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Embree is Colorado to the core

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News Junkie
By Ted Miller

When you talk to new Colorado coach Jon Embree, two things stand out. First, as a former player and coach, his connection to the Buffaloes runs deep. Second, not unlike Colorado fans who feel a powerful affinity for the program -- those who remember the glory years under Bill McCartney -- the malaise of recent seasons eats at him on a visceral level.

Embree didn't negotiate the tricky coaching ladder just to become a head coach. He climbed it to become Colorado's head coach. As a competitor, he's always wanted to win, of course, whether he was at UCLA or the Kansas City Chiefs or the Washington Redskins. But Buffs fans should know this: Winning at Colorado is personal for Embree. Whatever he lacks in head-coaching experience, he may well make up for with a singular commitment to restoring football in Boulder.

"The plan was always to be back here," he said. "That was always the plan. This is the only job I've ever wanted."

There also may be an additional edge to Embree's drive to rebuild Colorado. Consider his résumé.

As a touted local recruit in 1983, he bought into what McCartney was selling and became an impact player as a true freshman tight end. In his final season, 1986, the Buffaloes overcame a 0-4 start to finish 6-6. Then it was off to a brief NFL career.

In 1991, he joined McCartney's staff as a volunteer assistant. In 1993, after a year as a high school assistant, he came back to Boulder with a full-time job, coaching tight ends, and he remained with the Buffaloes until 2002, sticking around to work for both Rick Neuheisel (1995-98) and Gary Barnett (1999-2002).

OK. This is boring. What's the point? Ah, glad you asked. Embree was in Boulder for 15 years as a player and coach from 1983-2002. What key years are missing? Correct: 1989 and 1990, when the Buffs won back-to-back Big Eight championships, went 22-2-1 and split the 1990 national title with Georgia Tech.

Embree signed with Colorado in 1983 because "I believed in the vision that Bill McCartney had for the program and where this place could go and how it could be special. It was really all Bill McCartney." And he experienced the highs and lows of a rebuilding program, including a 1-10 finish in 1984. But he wasn't there when Colorado reached the pinnacle, as a player or coach. Perhaps that's an itch that he'd like to scratch.

"I felt like we were always close," he said. "We were always right there. We were close. But we just couldn't get over the hump."

(Read full post)



Originally posted by ESPN.com - Pac-10 Blog
Click here to view the article.
 
Ted Miller is definitely off to a good start as a huge upgrade over the type of ESPN coverage we got from the Big 12 blog.

Really interesting read:

Embree believes a starting point is understanding what made the program great under McCartney.

"What he did is he gave us an identity," Embree said. "Who are we? What is Colorado football going to be known for? That is how he started laying that foundation."

That identity isn't an earth-shattering kaboom. It's fundamental football: Be physical, run the ball, stop the run, get the ball to playmakers and play good special teams.

"It's a real simple formula when you sit there and you hear it," he said. "OK, what's the big deal? But getting that done was not an easy task. ... Once [McCartney] got the mindset of the players in the program on how we have to win games, and why we do things a certain way, that's when it took off."

And when Embree talked to insiders both before and after he was hired, a lack of identity kept coming up.

"If you asked the players, 'What are the three plays we're going to run on offense if we have to get a first down?' They couldn't name one," Embree said. "The way we practice. The way we train. We had no identity. We just kind of showed up and played."

Traditions were lost. Players were griping. "A lot of guys didn't feel like it was true competition, that jobs were kind of given to guys," Embree said. The culture was negative.
 
I effing hate Dan Hawkins. I don't have any idea whether Embree will turn this thing around or not, but damn, Hawkins was a horrible football coach. It's like he really didn't have the first idea of how the game was played. It was all lollipops and ponys. Lunchpails and horns out. Cinching it up and the little things. Or, as they say in Texas, all hat and no cattle.
 
Loved the article and the comments. Our own Grundle Creatini was exchanging blows with the attention starved ducks fans.

My favorite:
raynor54 (2/18/2011 at 3:28 PM) Report Violation
Is it just me, or does every picture of Boulder look like a Bob Ross painting?
tgruenler (2/18/2011 at 3:32 PM) Report Violation
Sorry it's all the weed. No but it's just that damn good looking. Nothing like the flat irons in the fall or with a light dust of snow on them. Beautiful campus.

And a Bob Ross painting for good measure.
dan%20-%20bw.jpg


I prefer Albert Bierstadt myself.
Albert_Bierstadt_BIA030.jpg
 
I effing hate Dan Hawkins. I don't have any idea whether Embree will turn this thing around or not, but damn, Hawkins was a horrible football coach. It's like he really didn't have the first idea of how the game was played. It was all lollipops and ponys. Lunchpails and horns out. Cinching it up and the little things. Or, as they say in Texas, all hat and no cattle.

So you're saying that the unicorn won't work any more?
 
So you're saying that the unicorn won't work any more?

I think when Embree arrived, a 2000+ pound male Buffalo mounted the unicorn, did his business and gave the unicorn cab fare. There is only room for one horned creature at Colorado.
 
I think when Embree arrived, a 2000+ pound male Buffalo mounted the unicorn, did his business and gave the unicorn cab fare. There is only room for one horned creature at Colorado.

Now there's a fark idea. Is the lovechild a Buffacorn or Uniffalo?
 
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