December 24, 2020
Karl Dorrell speaks to the media on a Zoom call after
Thursday's practice.
Last February,
when the news broke that Karl Dorrell was Colorado's choice to succeed the inartfully departing Mel Tucker as the Buffaloes'
football coach, I was among those at the CU Events Center for the UCLA-CU men's basketball game.
Both that afternoon
and as the hiring was made official and Dorrell was re-introduced, the reaction was, well, underwhelming. Gee, hadn't Dorrell
-- despite being the Pac-10's co-coach of the year in 2005 -- been fired after five seasons at UCLA? Hadn't he spent the entire
time since, with the exception of one problem-filled season as offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, as an NFL assistant.?
How was that a resume to get Buff followers excited?
As usually is the case, that kneejerk reaction involved oversimplification and even
misconception, and most reasonable observers soon concluded that he deserved a chance to prove he was the right guy, in the
right place, at the right time. He had served two stints as a CU assistant and had a three-season stay with the Broncos before
landing the UCLA job. And as he settled into the inevitably nomadic life as an NFL assistant, he and his wife, Kim, had a
house built in the Boulder area and designated it as their anchor home. That was an unusual choice for the profession, one
that makes so much sense, it's surprising more NFL coaches don't do the same thing.
So here we are, at Christmas, and Dorrell
this week was named the Pac-12's coach of the year -- no "co-" this time -- and is a finalist for two major national
coach of the year honors.
In this most bizarre of seasons, the Buffs are 4-1 heading into Tuesday's Alamo Bowl against Texas. They
weren't the only Pac-12 team with a new coach that wasn't able to have spring practice -- Washington (Jimmy Lake) and Washington
State (Nick Rolovich) were in the same boat -- but Dorrell had the added disadvantage of being hired in late February, roughly
three weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic essentially put America in Lockdown.
That added to the difficulty of an already
challenging coaching transition.
Let's just say it couldn't follow the typical patterns, as when I checked in with first-year Michigan State
head coach Nick Saban off and on for a year for a Sporting
News story (or more of an epic and narrative) that
was designed to serve as a working example of how a new regime digs in.
Dorrell couldn't dive in with personal, face-to-face meetings,
and he couldn't do on-field coaching until the delayed start of pre-season camp in October.
He was left trying to figure out just what he and his hybrid
staff -- both holdovers and new assistants Dorrell brought in -- had to work with.
That included deciding whether bringing back Sam Noyer (at right), a graduated
quarterback who hadn't started a game at the position for five years, or since he was a high school senior, was a significant
move or just added: a) a body in the depleted QB meeting room; and, b) an arm on the practice field.
And they weren't even sure that
the banged-up Jarek Broussard (at left), who hadn't played a snap in two seasons on campus because of knee issues, would be
able to play at all in his third -- much less turn into one of the nation's most dynamic running backs in the nation in 2020.
This is not a huge
body of work. Five games.
There is no guarantee the Buffs have this completely turned around. There
are no precedents to refer to and cite. But going in to the season, I was far from alone in believing that under these circumstances,
Dorrell should get a free pass in his first season. Just get the Buffs through it, establish principles and install a mindset,
and move on.
Dorrell doesn't need that free pass or what turned out to be miguided condescension about what the program's goals
should be.
He is feeling back at home in the college game, and in the college town where his house and perhaps his heart are.
I asked him about that return from the NFL on CU's Zoom call Thursday.
"I've always felt that college football was my most impactful part of my career,
because you're developing young players," Dorrell said. "You get them from high school and then they become young
men by the time they graduate from college. I've always felt like this was the best time in my career, at this level, was
to impact young people. I think in the NFL, it's not quite like that. It's more business-oriented, it's more goal-oriented
and about them achieving their personal goals. A lot of it is financially based. Here, even though they aspire to be at that
level, this is still the most impactful level I really enjoy."
The switch from NFL to college does come with somtimes unrealistic expectations.
"I think the
hardest thing for me is I'm expecting excellence a lot of the time in execution," Dorrell said. "The coaches keep
reeling me in, 'You have to remember, you came from the NFL, this is what it is in college.' I've been reminded a time or
two throughout the season about my expectations are alot higher in terms of what it should look like, versus what the NFL
expectations are. So that's been my biggest struggle because I'm always shooting to be the best we can be, no balls on the
ground, no dropped passes, those typical things that we deal with a lot easier on the NFL level. Here because they're young
players and they're developing, they're going to make mistakes ... But I reallly enjoy this level. I enjoy being a factor
in their lives when they're 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds and you see that maturity they have, where they started and where they
end up."
There's some mystery in all of this, about just how good the Buffs -- or any Pac-12
teams -- are at this point after their late-starting, limited, cancellation-ridden and sometimes bizarre seasons. The Alamo
Bowl will be the first time the Buffs have faced a team that is destined to play, or has played, more games than CU. The issue
of Big 12 vs. Pac-12 strength aside, the Longhorns are 6-3, the Buffs 4-1. It's not out of line to wonder if the Longhorns
will look much farther along, with the score reflecting that. I also asked Dorrell whether he is curious or concerned about
that potential disadvantage of having played fewer games.
"Yes and no," he said. "The reason why I say no is because of this COVID
thing. If it was just a normal year and there was full health all the time, but we're all up and down. It's been a struggle
for all of us. I don't think it's as big a factor as it normally would be. They've been hit just like we've been hit. They've
had guys opt out. They've had injuries. They're still a very good team. Whenever you still have your starting quarterback,
that gives you a chance to be a really good team. That piece (Sam Ehlinger) is still there, and so is ours. So it's a great
challenge that I'm excited for our guys to look at because we need to continue to grow and build as a program. I think the
players are willing to showcase themselves for a national audience and we'll see how this thing turns out."
Regardless of what
happens Tuesday, it has been a remarkable, if short-lived, season. The biggest joke now is anyone proclaiming they saw this
coming. (If there is anyone ...)
The Buffs' over-under win total in Las Vegas was 1.5.
I might have taken the under.
