March 5, 2024 • 35 mins
Growing up in Hawaii, his dream was to play football at Notre Dame like his dad. That dream was crushed when the Irish sent him a rejection letter. Brian Cabral then turned to a school where he would spend decades of his life.
He was a stellar linebacker and team captain for the University of Colorado. Nearly 50 years after he played, Brian’s name is still on the top 20 list of the Buffs all-time tacklers. A list that also includes 10 names he would eventually coach.
After graduating from CU, Brian was a 4th round draft pick. During his first few seasons, he dealt with injury, a trade and being cut. After he was released from the Packers, he thought he was done, but a higher power did not. On his drive to Boulder from Wisconsin, Brian prayed and left his future in God’s hands. When he pulled into his driveway, his wife Becky ran out to tell him the Bears had been calling. After six seasons in Chicago, and a Super Bowl championship, Brian retired and went into coaching.
Bill McCartney brought him to CU on as a Graduate Assistant and he quickly became a linebacker’s coach. Coach Cabral’s ability to connect with players was undeniable: he remained on the Buffs coaching staff through FIVE head coaches. He was also an interim head coach twice and felt he was ready to lead his alma mater. When that opportunity went elsewhere, Coach Cabral left Boulder for a few years. A few years after he returned, the CU Athletic Department reached out and created a position for him as a Character Coach. Today he works with all CU student athletes and loves being back with the Black and Gold.
He was a stellar linebacker and team captain for the University of Colorado. Nearly 50 years after he played, Brian’s name is still on the top 20 list of the Buffs all-time tacklers. A list that also includes 10 names he would eventually coach.
After graduating from CU, Brian was a 4th round draft pick. During his first few seasons, he dealt with injury, a trade and being cut. After he was released from the Packers, he thought he was done, but a higher power did not. On his drive to Boulder from Wisconsin, Brian prayed and left his future in God’s hands. When he pulled into his driveway, his wife Becky ran out to tell him the Bears had been calling. After six seasons in Chicago, and a Super Bowl championship, Brian retired and went into coaching.
Bill McCartney brought him to CU on as a Graduate Assistant and he quickly became a linebacker’s coach. Coach Cabral’s ability to connect with players was undeniable: he remained on the Buffs coaching staff through FIVE head coaches. He was also an interim head coach twice and felt he was ready to lead his alma mater. When that opportunity went elsewhere, Coach Cabral left Boulder for a few years. A few years after he returned, the CU Athletic Department reached out and created a position for him as a Character Coach. Today he works with all CU student athletes and loves being back with the Black and Gold.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
They cut me. And so I'mdriving back from Green Bay to Boulder and
I'm like, okay, Lord,now what you know because I've been cut
three times and it feels like,you know, is there really you know
something for me? Right? Andso I'm just driving home. I'm like,
(00:20):
okay, you just tell me whatyou want me to do and I'll
do it. I drive into thedriveway and Boulder and my wife comes running
out and says, the Bears havebeen trying to get a hold of you.
Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired a weekly podcast filled with
stories and advice stemming from conversations withprofessional athletes and coaches in a variety of
(00:40):
jobs. My hope is that you'llgain a nugget or two for your own
life on how to handle stepbacks andmove forward. I'm your host, Susie
Wargen. This episode's guest has beenassociated with the University of Colorado's football team
for decades. Brian Cabral's dream wasto follow in his dad's footsteps and play
football at Notre Dame, But afterthe the Irish sentimde Dear John letter saying
(01:02):
he wasn't good enough, Brian pivotedand he went to a school that did
want him. Turns out, headingto Boulder was the best choice he'd ever
make. Brian was a stellar linebackerfor SeeU in the seventies and was a
fourth round draft pick by the Falconsin nineteen seventy eight. His start in
the NFL was a little tough betweeninjuries, a trade, and cuts,
but his fourth team, the ChicagoBears, were the charm. That's where
(01:25):
he spent six seasons and won aSuper Bowl. After the Pros, Brian
started coaching, and he found himselfback in Boulder, where he stayed on
coaching staffs through five head coaches,a testament to his ability to coach and
relate to young men. He wasalso an interim head coach twice and thought
he was fit to be a headcoach. When he got passed over for
(01:46):
that position, he left Boulder fora while, but now he's back on
the staff again and as a charactercoach. You'll understand why after listening to
his story, Ladies and gentlemen,Brian Cabral fired retired podcast with Susie Wargen.
Hello Brian Cabral, how are you? I am wonderful, It's great
(02:08):
to see you this is really kindof a new adventure to do a podcast.
Yeah, this is this is yourvery first podcast. Yes, oh
yay, I'm a first time Ilove it. Well, we're going to
break in. Get ready, myfriend. You have been around for such
a long time. You are astaple at CU and in the Boulder community,
(02:30):
and so it's great to have youin here. I've talked to many
other buffs and there's lots of peoplethat have such great things to say about
you and your career. So Ithink it's going to be fun for people
to hear more about your upbringing andthen just kind of how you've stayed involved
with the university all these years.And you're still involved at the university as
we speak, so I know it'samazing. So you were born You were
(02:53):
born in Georgia, but grew upon Owahu, so moved around. Family
is military. Explain a little bitabout your childhood. And that's tough to
try and be in different places asa kid, isn't it. Yeah,
but there's benefits to it. Iam the oldest of six, Okay,
I was the first born. FortBenning, Georgia's where my dad first got
(03:16):
stationed, and then my brother wasborn next a couple of years later in
Fort Carson in Colorado school, Okay. And then I had my oldest sister.
I was born in Germany. Andthen we came back and one of
my next sister was born in Virginia. Another sister born in New Orleans,
(03:38):
and my parents adopted my youngest sisterfrom Korea. Wow. So yes,
I moved around a lot. Don'tremember much about that other than I think
the benefit was me being in alot of different places and being the eldest,
(04:00):
you probably had to kind of showthe way right. Yeah, that
was that was a natural born responsibilityand I felt the weight of that.
But when we we moved to uh, Hawaii, my dad was born and
raised in Hawaii, and so thatwas a great thing. My mom is
from South Bend, Indiana. Somy father played football at Notre Dame.
(04:25):
Oh, he was the first Hawaiianto play football at Notre Dame. And
so that was always my dream wasto play football at Notre Dame. My
dad played, and I read throughall his scrap books and through everything you
know that he tucked away in thecloset. Yeah, and that was my
dream. When did you get toHawaii. How old were you, I
(04:46):
was maybe fourth grade, all right, so the majority of your Yeah.
So my dad actually when he dida tour in in Hawaii, and then
he did a tour in Vietnam,and so the family stayed in Hawaii.
He did another tour in Hawaii andthen another tour in Vietnam, and so
that's how I got to grow upin the Islands. Now. I went
(05:11):
to Saint Louis High School is wheremy dad went to high school. It's
a private high school, Catholic highschool, all boy, all boys,
all boys. Huh okay? Andis that in Honolulu or Okay? So
travel I did from the other sideof the island. Yeah. So I
grew up surfing. I grew upon the beach. I grew up body
surfing. I grew up football,baseball, basketball. Did you have a
(05:34):
favorite between the three year? Wasfootball always your one? I think football
was was the youngest one. Istarted playing and just kind of got involved
with other sports just to get involved. But I think football. I mean
reading through my dad's scrap books,yeah, yeah, you know, and
he just tucked them away in thecloset and I would just get him out
(05:57):
and go through them, and it'slike, that was my dream. Did
you know that you were? Itcan be your dream, but you also
have to have the talent obviously,had the work ethic. Yeah, Pop
Wonner, you know youth league?Did you always play a linebacker? I
don't even remember what possessions I played, but it wasn't until I got to
high school when I played linebacker,and I was a full back and fell
(06:18):
in love with being the hitter thanrather than being hit, so hitter the
hit and so I think I wasa natural, yeah, playing defense.
And again my dream was Notre Dame, you know. And every weekend we're
watching Notre Dame on TV and probablyone of the few games you could see
on the island, right, ButI mean because well they were always on.
(06:40):
Notre Dame was always on. Yeah, yeah, because we're talking this
is the late sixties, early seventies. Yeah, So I grew up watching
them and being a fan of NotreDame and going several times back to South
Bend to my mom's family, okay, you know, and visiting the campus
of Notre Dame. It's always curiousto me when somebody goes to a small
(07:00):
school and I just had Randy gratischarOn who went to Champion High School in
Ohio. Very small school but stillgets noticed. If you're good enough,
scouts are going to find you.So how did they find you on Oahu?
Well, Saint Louis has a traditionof putting out good players. Okay,
the school was on the map.Yeah. So well, I had
(07:23):
one of my high school teammates cameto see you, and that's how they
found out about me. Okay,I wondered how, And you know,
it was recruiting season and I gota Dear John letter from Notre Dame.
Basically I was not good enough andso I was crushed. Oh I bet,
because that was just that was mydream, right. But I can
(07:46):
tell you the best thing that everhappened happened to me was coming here.
Yeah. And so Dan Stavely wasan old coach that coached the freshman team,
and he actually recruited me, andhe recruited me by mail. He
didn't even come see you. No. Well, Bill Mallory first, when
(08:07):
Bill Mallory first took over, hesent one of his coaches, okay out
to see me. And so Imade a trip to Colorado and fell in
love immediately. Did you make anyother trips? No, you just did
see you? Yeah? Oh wow, Yeah, I mean I got caught
off guard. Yeah, so Iwas telling everybody I'm going I'm going to
(08:30):
Notre Dame. Wow. So surprised. But see, you was the right
place at the right time, andthat was where you're supposed to be.
Now that you look back on it, I really can you imagine being anywhere
else? No, not at all. Had a very good career here at
CU. Yeah. We were ongood teams and so that was the fun
(08:50):
part. Absolutely. So you getto Boulder in the early seventies, which
was probably a great time to bein Boulder, right. I was just
there for school and for well footballfirst and the school and unfortunately it's supposed
to be the other way around.Yeah, but I did get my degree
and that was an emphasis. Youlettered all three years. Yeah. Yeah,
you graduated in nineteen seventy eight.You were a captain while you were
(09:11):
with the Buffs Big Eight championship innineteen seventy six. You were on the
team that played in the Orange Bowl. You're the leading tackler on that team.
Oh wow, did you not knowthat? Well, I probably forgot
Dave Platty knows that he put thatin your bio somewhere. Dave Platty knows,
all, Wow, that's yeah.You're the leading tackler in the Orange
Bowl in nineteen seventy seven against OhioState. So a good career there,
(09:33):
and then you this is really anotherreally cool stat obviously a Platty one too.
So you are still one of thetop twenty all time tacklers at CEU.
No way, you have coached tenof the other nineteen in the top
twenty, which is unbelievable. That'sawesome. It is awesome. Matt Russell,
Chad Brown, Jay, Sean Sykes. I mean there's a great list
(09:56):
and you are in there from yourcareer in the seventies. Yay, No,
it's amazing. I had so muchfun coaching those guys and my job
was to get the best out ofthem, which you did. That was
the fun part. They were allgreat kids, and they were all great
players, and it was fun coachingthem. Well. Obviously they had some
amazing respect for you and what youhad done in your career too. But
I want you more about your coachingin a second. I want to go
(10:20):
back to after you leave CU.You get drafted by the Falcons in the
fourth round in nineteen seventy eight,and you've got a pretty good NFL career
going almost a decade in the NFL. It was a rocky start. Okay,
okay. So I get drafted inthe fourth round, yay, right,
and then first training camp I getan ACL. So I had an
(10:41):
ACL surgery in my knee. Somy rookie year was spent rehabbing and trying
to get back. Had you hadany injuries in college when you were at
Cuz I did. In fact,my senior year, I think I missed
the last six games because of aknee injury, and I think that's why
(11:03):
it finally gave away, you know, blue eye. Yeah, it's the
same knee. But they drafted mein the fourth round anyway, so it's
I was happy about that. Uh. So I spent a year in rehab.
Rehab to start your career is ROOand not know what the future holds.
(11:24):
So I train and I come back, and the next year in camp
the Falcons cut me, and soI'm gonna stay in shape. I'm gonna
stay ready for anybody that is willit. And it wasn't until the last
three games of the season that theAtlanta Falcons picked me back up. So
I'm like, okay, now Ican really make my mark, right.
(11:46):
Yeah. Well, the next yearin training camp, they traded me to
the Baltimore Colts, and so Iwas only in Baltimore for a few weeks
in training camp and then they cutme and I sat out half the season.
Now you know, sitting out forme was training right, getting ready
(12:07):
for whoever, whoever would happen tocall me, And so Green Bay called
me halfway through the season. Hada wonderful experience in Green Bay. I
have to share the story. Myyouth league I played on and grew up
and was called the Kailus two towns, Kailu and Kailu. We were the
(12:28):
Green Bay Packers. We had thePacker uniform and so I was all about
Barstar Vince Lombardi. You know Iread the books. Lambo is so magical
too, isn't it. Yes,Yes, Lambo was my all time favorite
stadium, football stadium because it wasjust a football stadium and the community very
(12:52):
supportive, small town right, verymuch. That was a great experience half
a season and Bart Starr was thehead coach and so I'm like, wow,
this really is green Bay, thegreen Bay Packers, and I loved
bart Starr and unfortunately the next yearthey cut me. And so I'm driving
(13:13):
back from green Bay to Boulder andI'm like, okay, lord, now
what you know because I've been cutthree times and it feels like, you
know, is there really you knowsomething for me? And so I'm just
driving home. I'm like, okay, you just tell me what you want
(13:33):
me to do, and I'll doit, you know. I just kind
of lay it out, and Idrive into the driveway and Boulder and my
wife comes running out and says,the bears have been trying to get a
hold of you. So my drivehome from green Bay there was no there's
no cell phones. Well, Iwasn't going to talk to anybody anyway,
you know, And I wasn't goingto stop to talk to anybody until I
(13:54):
got home and I had to talkto my wife. He's going to make
it. So when she told methat the bears were trying to get a
hold of me, my heart sankbecause I didn't want to be rejected again.
Can I take that? Do Iwant that? I was married,
(14:16):
we had our son, and Iwasn't gonna tell my wife that either though
I was married and I had afamily, and so I had to go
and at least try out in Chicago. And I had a lot of work
to do on a plane there changingmy attitude. So I'm like, Okay,
I finally get to Chicago and I'mgonna give it my best. And
(14:37):
they signed me. The only reasonwhy they signed me was they had some
injured linebackers and I'm like, Okay, how long is that going to be?
Weeks turned into months, and monthsturned into years, and now that
was a year before Ditka. Igot to the Chicago Bears, and we
were awful. We were the badNews Bears. We were the Bears that
(15:00):
when we ran through out the tunnel, they were throwing stuff. Oh jealous.
So you had to be clever,right, absolutely dodge the batteries.
And then Dick It took over.And by the grace of God, I
had favor with Dick God, Ihad favor with Buddy Ryan. They kept
Buddy Ryan. Buddy Ryan was ona roll in his new defense. And
(15:22):
that makes all the difference in theworld too, if you are somebody's guy.
Yes, that was my only chanceat that point, and for some
reason they kept me around for sixyears. You're captain of the special teams.
You're on the Super Bowl championship teamfor Super Bowl twenty in nineteen eighty
five. You have an attitude changeon the plane from to Chicago. What
(15:43):
were you saying to yourself during thattime? I was saying to myself,
I had to do my best inmy tryout. I had to put my
best foot forward, and I hadto do everything I can do to succeed
for my family's sake. And oneyear led to another year, and we
were we were drafting well, wewere playing well. The defense was you
(16:06):
know, the Chicago Bears, andI was a part of it. What
I did learn about my career,the more you can do makes you more
wanted. And so I was theonly player on the team that played every
special team hence, you know,being a special teams captain. I was
(16:26):
the only linebacker that played all threelinebacker positions and finally ended up settling behind
Mike Singletary, and our middle linebackerin our defense, you know, was
very key. You know, Iwas his backup, and he and I
were roommates, and and to seehim grow and to see him flourish and
was awesome. Yeah, you know, but at the same time, my
(16:48):
role was to be trusted that ifanything happened to him, they could trust
me. That was my role.I'm curious if if you hadn't had that
experience in Chicago, if you youwould have had then the basis for because
I feel like your coaching base iskind of like that. It's the more
you can do. You like theunderdog, you like the guy that you
know doesn't get it all handed tohim, and then you're able to help
(17:11):
a lot of those guys become somethingthat many people didn't think or know that
they had in them. Right,that experience paid off. There's a lot
of rejection, there was a lotof tribulation, there was a lot,
there was a lot to overcome,and by the grace of God, I
overcame right, but I had helpalong the way. What athlete doesn't get
(17:32):
injured? You know, what athletedoesn't have setbacks? And that's the beauty
about sports. It teaches you aboutsetbacks, it teaches you about overcoming that
life is a little bit rougher.Yeah, oh absolutely, yeah, but
you got to turn yourself back up. But you learn a lot about that
in sports, and so I Idon't think if if you know, if
(17:55):
I didn't play sports, I don'tknow how I would handle them, absolutely
everything that came at me. Didyour family end up moving out to Chicago
or did you ever fully trust thatyou were going to be staying there?
We did move out to Chicago,Okay, but we were you know,
it was seasoned to season. Yeah. Well when your snake bit like that
early on, you're like, don'tbuy the house. Yeah, we well
(18:15):
we we started roots and then justone thing led to another and it just
kept getting better and then a superBowl, right, a Super Bowl championship.
Yeah, it was a lot offun. It was, but it
was when did you know that itwas time to be done? Or did
the NFL make that decision? Well, my body made that decision. I
(18:36):
had injuries along the way. Mostof the way they were patient, but
when you get older and you haveinjuries, they're a little less patient,
which is smart your investment. Yeah. Yeah, and I had a good
career. You did, so yououtlasted most of them, which is you
know, about three years, soyou tripled down. You're right to average
(19:00):
career in the NFL is less thanfour years. You did good. Yeah,
And for me, my faith waskey and all that. I've grown
a lot in my faith because ofall of that. So when you get
done with the NFL, you goright into coaching, don't you? You
go straight to Purdue or is therea little bit of lag time in there?
Well, my linebacker coach in Chicagoafter Buddy Ryan left, knew the
(19:25):
coaches at Purdue, and I alwaysthought, you know, maybe coaching is
something that I could do, andhe had a recommendation for me, and
so I was a graduate assistant atPurdue for my first two seasons and kind
of got a taste of coaching.And what I really liked about coaching was
the influence and impact that you canhave on a young man. And that
(19:49):
was really why I coached. AndI just happened to put out a lot
of great players, but the biggerpart of that for me was developing them
as young men. Did you havea coach or two that specifically helped you
that then made you want to dothat for others? Yeah? I think
through my playing career, you know, youth league coaches were very supportive.
(20:15):
My high school coach was very verysupportive and That's probably where I learned my
faith from was from him. Andthen college, the coaches that you get
there, they challenge you and theyhelp you grow and they encourage you.
And so that's what they did forme. And even relationships with the coaches
(20:37):
in the NFL, you know,is key, you know, And so
I've learned a lot about that andand and then I realized, you know
what, helping a young man developis really my forte. That's obvious as
long as you've been doing it,Yeah, I mean decades, decades that
you've been coaching. And Brian,just to see you alone, you have
(21:00):
been there through five head coaches.I wrote them all down because I was
like, man, that's a lotto remember between coach mac Rick, Neuheisel,
Gary Dan Hawkins, and John Embry. For an assistant coach to stay
through that many head coaches, youjust don't hear about that because everybody always
wants to bring in their own guys. Well, obviously there's something you bring
to the table that is so special, and they've all had great things that
(21:22):
they've said about you throughout the years. But from your perspective, what is
it that you do? How areyou able to connect with the players that
you've connected with, Well, mybest interest is them, and you know,
for some reason, the head coachesthat retained me saw the value.
But I also had I also hadthe experience, Yes, to invest in
(21:45):
those players, and so I washard to play for because I demanded a
lot. But it was all forthe right reasons. Yes, there wasn't
any other reason than their best Iwas living a dream. Yeah, being
able to invest in young men,to challenge young men, to pour into
young men, and to guide anddirect young men. And then they still
(22:07):
love you. I'm fascinated by thecoaches that can get the most out of
players by you know, being tough, but then also they love you.
They're going to do anything for you. They respect you, and they'll play
their hearts out. And you know, some coaches they can't figure out where
that line is. They're just goingto be hard asses all the time and
everybody hates them or they're your bestfriend and you don't get anything out of
(22:30):
them. Yeah, well there's alittle bit of both, right, I
know, But you found the mix. I mean it's hard to find that.
No, I'm they know that whateverI did or said or whatever was
for their best interests. They knewthat I had that in mind. It
wasn't it just to punish, Itwasn't just to try to be a good
(22:51):
guy with There was a purpose andit was phenomenal. They responded yes,
And that's when you know, Imean, when you start to that,
you're like, oh, I'm gettingthrough to them, right. Yeah.
What a reward. It's a tremendousreward. And I was blessed to be
that kind of a coach. Howdid you get back to Boulder when you
started at Purdue, Bill McCartney.Bill McCartney called me. Now, I
(23:17):
would come back, you know,in the summers. I would come back
to Boulder, and I knew aboutBill McCartney and what especially attracted me to
Bill McCartney was his his faith.And so I just kind of introduced myself
to him and the next thing,you know, he's looking for a linebacker
coach and he calls me. ButI got my first real job with him.
(23:37):
He brought me in as a graduateassistant with the promise of a position,
right, a real position. Soand he was true to that.
Technically was a graduate assistant my firstyear, had to take classes, and
then he hired me the next yearand the rest is history, truly.
(24:00):
But he brought me back to Coloradoand we we have had a had a
great, great friendship. Now,he was my mentor. You know,
I was a young coach and hewas coaching me like I was coaching my
kids. So it wasn't easy.What a great mentor to have. Yeah,
Yes, I learned a lot fromhim about coaching and then his coaching
(24:23):
style. He was the best,one of the best motivators I've ever been
around. Yeah, so that thatmeant a lot to me. And to
be a part of that and watchthat and we had some great players because
of him. He recruited great playersand that's the only way you win a
national chance, as did you?You recruited Rashon Salam who went on Tom
(24:47):
And I loved recruiting, did you. I did. I loved going into
the home right, meeting mom anddad and because recruiting is recruiting mom and
dad more often than not, isn'tit. Yeah. I mean they want
to know they trust their son toyou, right too, to Bill and
I had fun. Yeah, inthe home, that was the fun part.
(25:07):
Yeah, it's a tough life doingthe recruiting. Thing. It can
be a little time consuming, butvery worth it. And then you're able
to take somebody from their living roomto really great heights. Yes, and
it was fun for me to see. So. Rashan Salam played nine man
football in high school, and Ithought, you know what, if Rashaan's
not good enough to be on arunning back, I'll take him as a
(25:30):
linebacker. And he was a phenomenalrunning back. Yeah, you know,
phenomenal kid. He saw his talentwith him playing nine man football. Yeah.
I mean, you know, myrecruiting was just to me. It
was God's grace. He allowed togive me favor with kids and moms and
(25:52):
dads, and I can see why. I mean, just sitting here,
i'd go with you. But youknow, I was talking earlier about how
you've always kind of really enjoyed theunderdog, and it was interesting. You
know, you coach linebackers for solong, but I also noticed there was
a period of time, it wasfrom ninety nine to five, I think,
where you coached just punt return,right. You weren't special teams,
(26:15):
it was just punt return and JeremyBloom was one of your guys. How
did you single that out? Tojust be in charge of punt returns.
Uh, that was a responsibility givento me. I mean we had a
coach, a full time coach incharge of different phases. But that was
fun for me. I got tocreate a punt return team. Yeah,
right, like Jeremy. Oh mygoodness. Yeah, and I had I
(26:38):
had a Yeah, I had alot of a lot of really great But
it was fun. It was funto scheme, it was fun to you
know, put kids, and itwas fun to help them have fun on
the field. I just have neverheard of that where a position coach just
takes one part of a special team. Yes, no, that's I don't
know that that's common, but happensfor whatever reason. I was giving pumping
(27:02):
turn and like a kid in asandbox and you have those kind of tools.
Yeah, I mean it's so funny. I mean, I love Jeremy
and I so you try to helpthem realize their potential. Yeah, I
mean yeah, I mean they havegreat potential and it was just fun to
see them do it. Oh.Absolutely, Yeah, I thought that was
really cool. I didn't know thatyou were a part of that. So
(27:26):
as you go through your coaching career, you end up being an interim head
coach twice, once when Gary Barnettwas suspended, another time when Dan Hawkins
was fired. What was it liketo take over those duties and then not
just be you know, you inyour little room, but now you've got
to do day to day. It'sa whole different animal. Oh, no
question. And that's a unique situation, you know, them not having their
(27:48):
regular head coach. You know,at that time, I had aspirations of
being a head coach, you know, and I didn't really know what that
meant. So that was a funjourney while it lasted a birations go away
after you were interim and you realizedI was okay, not really, I
felt like, okay, I'm moreready now than ever before. But to
(28:08):
be the glue and a time likethat, that's a yucky time. It's
a tough position both times. Yeah, but that was fun for me.
I had the responsibility of every playerand every coach. That was a lot
of fun for me. I don'teven know what my record was. Well,
I know the game after you tookover, when Hawkins was let go,
(28:30):
Cody had one of his best gamesever year. So you're you're coaching
the son of the coach that justgot fired. I mean the awkwardness had
to be there a little bit,but you still did amazing. That was
unique to Yeah, Dan Hawkins andCody. But I had great I had
great assistance. You know, itwasn't all on me. My challenge to
them was to get the best outof the kids that they can't. So
(28:52):
anyway, you left Boulder for alittle bit. You went to Indiana State.
I needed to get away from Boulder, needed to get away from see
you. And I went with avery good friend of mine, Mike Sandford's
dad. Had a great journey toIndiana State, Tara Hope definitely not Colorado.
But it was just a great journey, a great adventure. They were
(29:15):
all underdogs. Those were kids thatwere overlooked by d one and so it
was fun for me to invest inthose kids, invest in you know.
Now I was a defensive coordinator,so I had a little more responsibility.
Yeah, and so that was fun. Also assistant head coach at some point
in there, right, Yeah,but that was a fun adventure going there.
And I knew I had to getaway from Boulder. I had,
(29:37):
you know, I kept my home. We would come back in the summer
and everything, but to separate myselffrom CU in a healthy way. Absolutely,
it was time. Well, andyou didn't get a head coaching job.
Are you hoping that you would eventuallybe the head coach there? Okay,
yeah, no question, And that'swhy it was best for me to
just sever take a little bit andget Yeah, and it was good.
(30:00):
It was a great adventure with MikeSandford's dad is a great adventure as a
defensive coordinator. Is a great adventurewith kids from you know, I got
to recruit Chicago, oh you know, but it was only several hours away.
So yeah, that was fun tappinginto my Chicago roots. But it
was just a good time. Andyour kids are grown by then, right,
(30:22):
so then it's just you and Beckyand yeah, it's easier to kind
of pick up and go do somethinglike that. Yeah. Right, Then
in twenty twenty, you come backto Boulder. Yes, what brings you
back? I was done coaching.The staff got fired, and I was
done. It was okay for meto come back, moving to my home
in Boulder and live. But theycoaxed you out of retirement. Yeah,
(30:47):
does Rick George come knocking on yourdoor and say, hey, Hello,
we could use your hope because yougot all the secret sauce on how to
get well. I don't know aboutthat. But he gives me a call
and he's like, what are youdoing? Like, I'm not doing anything
because I got hired because I gota job for you. I'm like really,
So I run up the campus andmeet with him, and he creates
(31:11):
a character coach position for me.Now I get to hang out with athletes,
I get to hang out with coaches, I get to for all sports.
I think it's a brilliant position.Oh, it's a fun position.
It's living it for me, it'sliving a dream absolutely. You know,
I don't have to worry about howthey perform. So what do you do
(31:33):
as that kids can come to you? And my biggest thing is developing relationships
with the kids. You know,you have to be around. So I'm
in workouts, I'm at practices.I have some help. I wasn't going
to do it all by myself.So I have a gal that helps me
over at the event center. AndI have a guy, JB. Hall,
(31:56):
who's been around the program, buthe's been the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
and and so he's a black man, and so I've kind of recruited him
to count me with the football team. And you've been involved with FCA for
a very long time. Yeah,yeah, since since I came to see
you. Yeah. So you getto talk to all the athletes, male
and female, and you build relationships. Yes, that is really cool.
(32:20):
What's what's been one of the neatesttakeaways from that since you've been doing it,
you know, it's it's relationship building, you know, it's trying to
earn their trust and to see themget more and more comfortable with me.
The hard part though, coach Primehas flipped the roster. Yeah, so
it's hard and starting all over.But that's the challenge. The landscape so
(32:45):
different in college athletics right now,especially in football, my goodness, and
that's happening at every school. Yeah, and hopefully I can. I'm you
know, kind of the median orthe glue again. Yeah, which you
did so well that that prepared youwell for this future position. You never
knew you'd have a retirement. Yeah. Yeah, so no, I I
(33:07):
I love ce you, I loveRick George. Rick George and I were
on staff with Bill McCartney at onetime. That's how he started there at
CU. He was on coach Max'sstaff, right, Yeah, right,
he was a recruiter, wasn't he. Yes, he was a recruiting coordinator.
And so that was that's awesome backthat Rick saw that in me.
(33:28):
My heart is at CEU, right, My heart is him Boulder, my
heart. Yeah, it's a specialplace, isn't it It is? Yeah?
For me, it is absolute family. I'm glad you came back,
you know, And I understand this. Sometimes you have to go and you
have to separate and figure out whatyou're doing. But it's good that you're
back, all right. So,coach, as you look back throughout your
(33:50):
phenomenal career, whether it be asa player as a coach, you've had
the ups and downs. You've beencut, you've been traded, you've been
fired, what do you tell people, especially with this position that you're in,
when they have those setbacks, howyou keep moving forward. The only
way that I was able to dealwith all of that, the highs and
the lows, was to trust God. He's my strength, He's my hope.
(34:19):
That's all. No. I loveit. I love it well.
And your whole car ride back fromGreen Bay to Boulder and that's what you
did. You said, show methe way and then suddenly a door will
open. Amen. Yes, yeah, that's great, coach. This has
been really really good to catch upwith you. When I saw you downstairs
when you came in the lobby,I'm like, it's been years and I
think it was since you did theinterim as Coach Hawkins interim. So yeah,
(34:45):
it's been a long time and it'sgood to catch up with you.
And I'm glad that you're happy andthings are going well and you're glad to
be back and Boulder and your family'sgood. A man, Well, thanks
for bringing me back. Absolutely.So yeah, I'm like, okay,
why am I doing this? Whatpossibly anyway? Well, it could be
possibly interesting about you. Oh,I don't know, just the last forty
(35:06):
minutes. Now you've done your firstpodcast. How about that. Wow,
Now you're a veteran at podcasting.You could go do this all the time.
What's the podcast? I'll send youthe link. Perfect, Okay,
that'll work. Coach. Thank you, you're welcome. Thank you very much.
Wow, there was some great rawemotion in there. Thank you,
Coach cabral New episodes of Cut,Traded, Fired, Retired are released on
(35:30):
Tuesdays on your favorite podcast platforms.Get social with the podcast on Twitter and
Instagram at ctf our podcast, andcheck out the website ctfurpodcast dot com.
I'm your host, Susie Wargen.To find out more about me, you
can visit susiewargon dot com. Thanksso much for listening, and until next
time, please be careful, besafe, and be kind. Take care
They cut me. And so I'mdriving back from Green Bay to Boulder and
I'm like, okay, Lord,now what you know because I've been cut
three times and it feels like,you know, is there really you know
something for me? Right? Andso I'm just driving home. I'm like,
(00:20):
okay, you just tell me whatyou want me to do and I'll
do it. I drive into thedriveway and Boulder and my wife comes running
out and says, the Bears havebeen trying to get a hold of you.
Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired a weekly podcast filled with
stories and advice stemming from conversations withprofessional athletes and coaches in a variety of
(00:40):
jobs. My hope is that you'llgain a nugget or two for your own
life on how to handle stepbacks andmove forward. I'm your host, Susie
Wargen. This episode's guest has beenassociated with the University of Colorado's football team
for decades. Brian Cabral's dream wasto follow in his dad's footsteps and play
football at Notre Dame, But afterthe the Irish sentimde Dear John letter saying
(01:02):
he wasn't good enough, Brian pivotedand he went to a school that did
want him. Turns out, headingto Boulder was the best choice he'd ever
make. Brian was a stellar linebackerfor SeeU in the seventies and was a
fourth round draft pick by the Falconsin nineteen seventy eight. His start in
the NFL was a little tough betweeninjuries, a trade, and cuts,
but his fourth team, the ChicagoBears, were the charm. That's where
(01:25):
he spent six seasons and won aSuper Bowl. After the Pros, Brian
started coaching, and he found himselfback in Boulder, where he stayed on
coaching staffs through five head coaches,a testament to his ability to coach and
relate to young men. He wasalso an interim head coach twice and thought
he was fit to be a headcoach. When he got passed over for
(01:46):
that position, he left Boulder fora while, but now he's back on
the staff again and as a charactercoach. You'll understand why after listening to
his story, Ladies and gentlemen,Brian Cabral fired retired podcast with Susie Wargen.
Hello Brian Cabral, how are you? I am wonderful, It's great
(02:08):
to see you this is really kindof a new adventure to do a podcast.
Yeah, this is this is yourvery first podcast. Yes, oh
yay, I'm a first time Ilove it. Well, we're going to
break in. Get ready, myfriend. You have been around for such
a long time. You are astaple at CU and in the Boulder community,
(02:30):
and so it's great to have youin here. I've talked to many
other buffs and there's lots of peoplethat have such great things to say about
you and your career. So Ithink it's going to be fun for people
to hear more about your upbringing andthen just kind of how you've stayed involved
with the university all these years.And you're still involved at the university as
we speak, so I know it'samazing. So you were born You were
(02:53):
born in Georgia, but grew upon Owahu, so moved around. Family
is military. Explain a little bitabout your childhood. And that's tough to
try and be in different places asa kid, isn't it. Yeah,
but there's benefits to it. Iam the oldest of six, Okay,
I was the first born. FortBenning, Georgia's where my dad first got
(03:16):
stationed, and then my brother wasborn next a couple of years later in
Fort Carson in Colorado school, Okay. And then I had my oldest sister.
I was born in Germany. Andthen we came back and one of
my next sister was born in Virginia. Another sister born in New Orleans,
(03:38):
and my parents adopted my youngest sisterfrom Korea. Wow. So yes,
I moved around a lot. Don'tremember much about that other than I think
the benefit was me being in alot of different places and being the eldest,
(04:00):
you probably had to kind of showthe way right. Yeah, that
was that was a natural born responsibilityand I felt the weight of that.
But when we we moved to uh, Hawaii, my dad was born and
raised in Hawaii, and so thatwas a great thing. My mom is
from South Bend, Indiana. Somy father played football at Notre Dame.
(04:25):
Oh, he was the first Hawaiianto play football at Notre Dame. And
so that was always my dream wasto play football at Notre Dame. My
dad played, and I read throughall his scrap books and through everything you
know that he tucked away in thecloset. Yeah, and that was my
dream. When did you get toHawaii. How old were you, I
(04:46):
was maybe fourth grade, all right, so the majority of your Yeah.
So my dad actually when he dida tour in in Hawaii, and then
he did a tour in Vietnam,and so the family stayed in Hawaii.
He did another tour in Hawaii andthen another tour in Vietnam, and so
that's how I got to grow upin the Islands. Now. I went
(05:11):
to Saint Louis High School is wheremy dad went to high school. It's
a private high school, Catholic highschool, all boy, all boys,
all boys. Huh okay? Andis that in Honolulu or Okay? So
travel I did from the other sideof the island. Yeah. So I
grew up surfing. I grew upon the beach. I grew up body
surfing. I grew up football,baseball, basketball. Did you have a
(05:34):
favorite between the three year? Wasfootball always your one? I think football
was was the youngest one. Istarted playing and just kind of got involved
with other sports just to get involved. But I think football. I mean
reading through my dad's scrap books,yeah, yeah, you know, and
he just tucked them away in thecloset and I would just get him out
(05:57):
and go through them, and it'slike, that was my dream. Did
you know that you were? Itcan be your dream, but you also
have to have the talent obviously,had the work ethic. Yeah, Pop
Wonner, you know youth league?Did you always play a linebacker? I
don't even remember what possessions I played, but it wasn't until I got to
high school when I played linebacker,and I was a full back and fell
(06:18):
in love with being the hitter thanrather than being hit, so hitter the
hit and so I think I wasa natural, yeah, playing defense.
And again my dream was Notre Dame, you know. And every weekend we're
watching Notre Dame on TV and probablyone of the few games you could see
on the island, right, ButI mean because well they were always on.
(06:40):
Notre Dame was always on. Yeah, yeah, because we're talking this
is the late sixties, early seventies. Yeah, So I grew up watching
them and being a fan of NotreDame and going several times back to South
Bend to my mom's family, okay, you know, and visiting the campus
of Notre Dame. It's always curiousto me when somebody goes to a small
(07:00):
school and I just had Randy gratischarOn who went to Champion High School in
Ohio. Very small school but stillgets noticed. If you're good enough,
scouts are going to find you.So how did they find you on Oahu?
Well, Saint Louis has a traditionof putting out good players. Okay,
the school was on the map.Yeah. So well, I had
(07:23):
one of my high school teammates cameto see you, and that's how they
found out about me. Okay,I wondered how, And you know,
it was recruiting season and I gota Dear John letter from Notre Dame.
Basically I was not good enough andso I was crushed. Oh I bet,
because that was just that was mydream, right. But I can
(07:46):
tell you the best thing that everhappened happened to me was coming here.
Yeah. And so Dan Stavely wasan old coach that coached the freshman team,
and he actually recruited me, andhe recruited me by mail. He
didn't even come see you. No. Well, Bill Mallory first, when
(08:07):
Bill Mallory first took over, hesent one of his coaches, okay out
to see me. And so Imade a trip to Colorado and fell in
love immediately. Did you make anyother trips? No, you just did
see you? Yeah? Oh wow, Yeah, I mean I got caught
off guard. Yeah, so Iwas telling everybody I'm going I'm going to
(08:30):
Notre Dame. Wow. So surprised. But see, you was the right
place at the right time, andthat was where you're supposed to be.
Now that you look back on it, I really can you imagine being anywhere
else? No, not at all. Had a very good career here at
CU. Yeah. We were ongood teams and so that was the fun
(08:50):
part. Absolutely. So you getto Boulder in the early seventies, which
was probably a great time to bein Boulder, right. I was just
there for school and for well footballfirst and the school and unfortunately it's supposed
to be the other way around.Yeah, but I did get my degree
and that was an emphasis. Youlettered all three years. Yeah. Yeah,
you graduated in nineteen seventy eight.You were a captain while you were
(09:11):
with the Buffs Big Eight championship innineteen seventy six. You were on the
team that played in the Orange Bowl. You're the leading tackler on that team.
Oh wow, did you not knowthat? Well, I probably forgot
Dave Platty knows that he put thatin your bio somewhere. Dave Platty knows,
all, Wow, that's yeah.You're the leading tackler in the Orange
Bowl in nineteen seventy seven against OhioState. So a good career there,
(09:33):
and then you this is really anotherreally cool stat obviously a Platty one too.
So you are still one of thetop twenty all time tacklers at CEU.
No way, you have coached tenof the other nineteen in the top
twenty, which is unbelievable. That'sawesome. It is awesome. Matt Russell,
Chad Brown, Jay, Sean Sykes. I mean there's a great list
(09:56):
and you are in there from yourcareer in the seventies. Yay, No,
it's amazing. I had so muchfun coaching those guys and my job
was to get the best out ofthem, which you did. That was
the fun part. They were allgreat kids, and they were all great
players, and it was fun coachingthem. Well. Obviously they had some
amazing respect for you and what youhad done in your career too. But
I want you more about your coachingin a second. I want to go
(10:20):
back to after you leave CU.You get drafted by the Falcons in the
fourth round in nineteen seventy eight,and you've got a pretty good NFL career
going almost a decade in the NFL. It was a rocky start. Okay,
okay. So I get drafted inthe fourth round, yay, right,
and then first training camp I getan ACL. So I had an
(10:41):
ACL surgery in my knee. Somy rookie year was spent rehabbing and trying
to get back. Had you hadany injuries in college when you were at
Cuz I did. In fact,my senior year, I think I missed
the last six games because of aknee injury, and I think that's why
(11:03):
it finally gave away, you know, blue eye. Yeah, it's the
same knee. But they drafted mein the fourth round anyway, so it's
I was happy about that. Uh. So I spent a year in rehab.
Rehab to start your career is ROOand not know what the future holds.
(11:24):
So I train and I come back, and the next year in camp
the Falcons cut me, and soI'm gonna stay in shape. I'm gonna
stay ready for anybody that is willit. And it wasn't until the last
three games of the season that theAtlanta Falcons picked me back up. So
I'm like, okay, now Ican really make my mark, right.
(11:46):
Yeah. Well, the next yearin training camp, they traded me to
the Baltimore Colts, and so Iwas only in Baltimore for a few weeks
in training camp and then they cutme and I sat out half the season.
Now you know, sitting out forme was training right, getting ready
(12:07):
for whoever, whoever would happen tocall me, And so Green Bay called
me halfway through the season. Hada wonderful experience in Green Bay. I
have to share the story. Myyouth league I played on and grew up
and was called the Kailus two towns, Kailu and Kailu. We were the
(12:28):
Green Bay Packers. We had thePacker uniform and so I was all about
Barstar Vince Lombardi. You know Iread the books. Lambo is so magical
too, isn't it. Yes,Yes, Lambo was my all time favorite
stadium, football stadium because it wasjust a football stadium and the community very
(12:52):
supportive, small town right, verymuch. That was a great experience half
a season and Bart Starr was thehead coach and so I'm like, wow,
this really is green Bay, thegreen Bay Packers, and I loved
bart Starr and unfortunately the next yearthey cut me. And so I'm driving
(13:13):
back from green Bay to Boulder andI'm like, okay, lord, now
what you know because I've been cutthree times and it feels like, you
know, is there really you knowsomething for me? And so I'm just
driving home. I'm like, okay, you just tell me what you want
(13:33):
me to do, and I'll doit, you know. I just kind
of lay it out, and Idrive into the driveway and Boulder and my
wife comes running out and says,the bears have been trying to get a
hold of you. So my drivehome from green Bay there was no there's
no cell phones. Well, Iwasn't going to talk to anybody anyway,
you know, And I wasn't goingto stop to talk to anybody until I
(13:54):
got home and I had to talkto my wife. He's going to make
it. So when she told methat the bears were trying to get a
hold of me, my heart sankbecause I didn't want to be rejected again.
Can I take that? Do Iwant that? I was married,
(14:16):
we had our son, and Iwasn't gonna tell my wife that either though
I was married and I had afamily, and so I had to go
and at least try out in Chicago. And I had a lot of work
to do on a plane there changingmy attitude. So I'm like, Okay,
I finally get to Chicago and I'mgonna give it my best. And
(14:37):
they signed me. The only reasonwhy they signed me was they had some
injured linebackers and I'm like, Okay, how long is that going to be?
Weeks turned into months, and monthsturned into years, and now that
was a year before Ditka. Igot to the Chicago Bears, and we
were awful. We were the badNews Bears. We were the Bears that
(15:00):
when we ran through out the tunnel, they were throwing stuff. Oh jealous.
So you had to be clever,right, absolutely dodge the batteries.
And then Dick It took over.And by the grace of God, I
had favor with Dick God, Ihad favor with Buddy Ryan. They kept
Buddy Ryan. Buddy Ryan was ona roll in his new defense. And
(15:22):
that makes all the difference in theworld too, if you are somebody's guy.
Yes, that was my only chanceat that point, and for some
reason they kept me around for sixyears. You're captain of the special teams.
You're on the Super Bowl championship teamfor Super Bowl twenty in nineteen eighty
five. You have an attitude changeon the plane from to Chicago. What
(15:43):
were you saying to yourself during thattime? I was saying to myself,
I had to do my best inmy tryout. I had to put my
best foot forward, and I hadto do everything I can do to succeed
for my family's sake. And oneyear led to another year, and we
were we were drafting well, wewere playing well. The defense was you
(16:06):
know, the Chicago Bears, andI was a part of it. What
I did learn about my career,the more you can do makes you more
wanted. And so I was theonly player on the team that played every
special team hence, you know,being a special teams captain. I was
(16:26):
the only linebacker that played all threelinebacker positions and finally ended up settling behind
Mike Singletary, and our middle linebackerin our defense, you know, was
very key. You know, Iwas his backup, and he and I
were roommates, and and to seehim grow and to see him flourish and
was awesome. Yeah, you know, but at the same time, my
(16:48):
role was to be trusted that ifanything happened to him, they could trust
me. That was my role.I'm curious if if you hadn't had that
experience in Chicago, if you youwould have had then the basis for because
I feel like your coaching base iskind of like that. It's the more
you can do. You like theunderdog, you like the guy that you
know doesn't get it all handed tohim, and then you're able to help
(17:11):
a lot of those guys become somethingthat many people didn't think or know that
they had in them. Right,that experience paid off. There's a lot
of rejection, there was a lotof tribulation, there was a lot,
there was a lot to overcome,and by the grace of God, I
overcame right, but I had helpalong the way. What athlete doesn't get
(17:32):
injured? You know, what athletedoesn't have setbacks? And that's the beauty
about sports. It teaches you aboutsetbacks, it teaches you about overcoming that
life is a little bit rougher.Yeah, oh absolutely, yeah, but
you got to turn yourself back up. But you learn a lot about that
in sports, and so I Idon't think if if you know, if
(17:55):
I didn't play sports, I don'tknow how I would handle them, absolutely
everything that came at me. Didyour family end up moving out to Chicago
or did you ever fully trust thatyou were going to be staying there?
We did move out to Chicago,Okay, but we were you know,
it was seasoned to season. Yeah. Well when your snake bit like that
early on, you're like, don'tbuy the house. Yeah, we well
(18:15):
we we started roots and then justone thing led to another and it just
kept getting better and then a superBowl, right, a Super Bowl championship.
Yeah, it was a lot offun. It was, but it
was when did you know that itwas time to be done? Or did
the NFL make that decision? Well, my body made that decision. I
(18:36):
had injuries along the way. Mostof the way they were patient, but
when you get older and you haveinjuries, they're a little less patient,
which is smart your investment. Yeah. Yeah, and I had a good
career. You did, so yououtlasted most of them, which is you
know, about three years, soyou tripled down. You're right to average
(19:00):
career in the NFL is less thanfour years. You did good. Yeah,
And for me, my faith waskey and all that. I've grown
a lot in my faith because ofall of that. So when you get
done with the NFL, you goright into coaching, don't you? You
go straight to Purdue or is therea little bit of lag time in there?
Well, my linebacker coach in Chicagoafter Buddy Ryan left, knew the
(19:25):
coaches at Purdue, and I alwaysthought, you know, maybe coaching is
something that I could do, andhe had a recommendation for me, and
so I was a graduate assistant atPurdue for my first two seasons and kind
of got a taste of coaching.And what I really liked about coaching was
the influence and impact that you canhave on a young man. And that
(19:49):
was really why I coached. AndI just happened to put out a lot
of great players, but the biggerpart of that for me was developing them
as young men. Did you havea coach or two that specifically helped you
that then made you want to dothat for others? Yeah? I think
through my playing career, you know, youth league coaches were very supportive.
(20:15):
My high school coach was very verysupportive and That's probably where I learned my
faith from was from him. Andthen college, the coaches that you get
there, they challenge you and theyhelp you grow and they encourage you.
And so that's what they did forme. And even relationships with the coaches
(20:37):
in the NFL, you know,is key, you know, And so
I've learned a lot about that andand and then I realized, you know
what, helping a young man developis really my forte. That's obvious as
long as you've been doing it,Yeah, I mean decades, decades that
you've been coaching. And Brian,just to see you alone, you have
(21:00):
been there through five head coaches.I wrote them all down because I was
like, man, that's a lotto remember between coach mac Rick, Neuheisel,
Gary Dan Hawkins, and John Embry. For an assistant coach to stay
through that many head coaches, youjust don't hear about that because everybody always
wants to bring in their own guys. Well, obviously there's something you bring
to the table that is so special, and they've all had great things that
(21:22):
they've said about you throughout the years. But from your perspective, what is
it that you do? How areyou able to connect with the players that
you've connected with, Well, mybest interest is them, and you know,
for some reason, the head coachesthat retained me saw the value.
But I also had I also hadthe experience, Yes, to invest in
(21:45):
those players, and so I washard to play for because I demanded a
lot. But it was all forthe right reasons. Yes, there wasn't
any other reason than their best Iwas living a dream. Yeah, being
able to invest in young men,to challenge young men, to pour into
young men, and to guide anddirect young men. And then they still
(22:07):
love you. I'm fascinated by thecoaches that can get the most out of
players by you know, being tough, but then also they love you.
They're going to do anything for you. They respect you, and they'll play
their hearts out. And you know, some coaches they can't figure out where
that line is. They're just goingto be hard asses all the time and
everybody hates them or they're your bestfriend and you don't get anything out of
(22:30):
them. Yeah, well there's alittle bit of both, right, I
know, But you found the mix. I mean it's hard to find that.
No, I'm they know that whateverI did or said or whatever was
for their best interests. They knewthat I had that in mind. It
wasn't it just to punish, Itwasn't just to try to be a good
(22:51):
guy with There was a purpose andit was phenomenal. They responded yes,
And that's when you know, Imean, when you start to that,
you're like, oh, I'm gettingthrough to them, right. Yeah.
What a reward. It's a tremendousreward. And I was blessed to be
that kind of a coach. Howdid you get back to Boulder when you
started at Purdue, Bill McCartney.Bill McCartney called me. Now, I
(23:17):
would come back, you know,in the summers. I would come back
to Boulder, and I knew aboutBill McCartney and what especially attracted me to
Bill McCartney was his his faith.And so I just kind of introduced myself
to him and the next thing,you know, he's looking for a linebacker
coach and he calls me. ButI got my first real job with him.
(23:37):
He brought me in as a graduateassistant with the promise of a position,
right, a real position. Soand he was true to that.
Technically was a graduate assistant my firstyear, had to take classes, and
then he hired me the next yearand the rest is history, truly.
(24:00):
But he brought me back to Coloradoand we we have had a had a
great, great friendship. Now,he was my mentor. You know,
I was a young coach and hewas coaching me like I was coaching my
kids. So it wasn't easy.What a great mentor to have. Yeah,
Yes, I learned a lot fromhim about coaching and then his coaching
(24:23):
style. He was the best,one of the best motivators I've ever been
around. Yeah, so that thatmeant a lot to me. And to
be a part of that and watchthat and we had some great players because
of him. He recruited great playersand that's the only way you win a
national chance, as did you?You recruited Rashon Salam who went on Tom
(24:47):
And I loved recruiting, did you. I did. I loved going into
the home right, meeting mom anddad and because recruiting is recruiting mom and
dad more often than not, isn'tit. Yeah. I mean they want
to know they trust their son toyou, right too, to Bill and
I had fun. Yeah, inthe home, that was the fun part.
(25:07):
Yeah, it's a tough life doingthe recruiting. Thing. It can
be a little time consuming, butvery worth it. And then you're able
to take somebody from their living roomto really great heights. Yes, and
it was fun for me to see. So. Rashan Salam played nine man
football in high school, and Ithought, you know what, if Rashaan's
not good enough to be on arunning back, I'll take him as a
(25:30):
linebacker. And he was a phenomenalrunning back. Yeah, you know,
phenomenal kid. He saw his talentwith him playing nine man football. Yeah.
I mean, you know, myrecruiting was just to me. It
was God's grace. He allowed togive me favor with kids and moms and
(25:52):
dads, and I can see why. I mean, just sitting here,
i'd go with you. But youknow, I was talking earlier about how
you've always kind of really enjoyed theunderdog, and it was interesting. You
know, you coach linebackers for solong, but I also noticed there was
a period of time, it wasfrom ninety nine to five, I think,
where you coached just punt return,right. You weren't special teams,
(26:15):
it was just punt return and JeremyBloom was one of your guys. How
did you single that out? Tojust be in charge of punt returns.
Uh, that was a responsibility givento me. I mean we had a
coach, a full time coach incharge of different phases. But that was
fun for me. I got tocreate a punt return team. Yeah,
right, like Jeremy. Oh mygoodness. Yeah, and I had I
(26:38):
had a Yeah, I had alot of a lot of really great But
it was fun. It was funto scheme, it was fun to you
know, put kids, and itwas fun to help them have fun on
the field. I just have neverheard of that where a position coach just
takes one part of a special team. Yes, no, that's I don't
know that that's common, but happensfor whatever reason. I was giving pumping
(27:02):
turn and like a kid in asandbox and you have those kind of tools.
Yeah, I mean it's so funny. I mean, I love Jeremy
and I so you try to helpthem realize their potential. Yeah, I
mean yeah, I mean they havegreat potential and it was just fun to
see them do it. Oh.Absolutely, Yeah, I thought that was
really cool. I didn't know thatyou were a part of that. So
(27:26):
as you go through your coaching career, you end up being an interim head
coach twice, once when Gary Barnettwas suspended, another time when Dan Hawkins
was fired. What was it liketo take over those duties and then not
just be you know, you inyour little room, but now you've got
to do day to day. It'sa whole different animal. Oh, no
question. And that's a unique situation, you know, them not having their
(27:48):
regular head coach. You know,at that time, I had aspirations of
being a head coach, you know, and I didn't really know what that
meant. So that was a funjourney while it lasted a birations go away
after you were interim and you realizedI was okay, not really, I
felt like, okay, I'm moreready now than ever before. But to
(28:08):
be the glue and a time likethat, that's a yucky time. It's
a tough position both times. Yeah, but that was fun for me.
I had the responsibility of every playerand every coach. That was a lot
of fun for me. I don'teven know what my record was. Well,
I know the game after you tookover, when Hawkins was let go,
(28:30):
Cody had one of his best gamesever year. So you're you're coaching
the son of the coach that justgot fired. I mean the awkwardness had
to be there a little bit,but you still did amazing. That was
unique to Yeah, Dan Hawkins andCody. But I had great I had
great assistance. You know, itwasn't all on me. My challenge to
them was to get the best outof the kids that they can't. So
(28:52):
anyway, you left Boulder for alittle bit. You went to Indiana State.
I needed to get away from Boulder, needed to get away from see
you. And I went with avery good friend of mine, Mike Sandford's
dad. Had a great journey toIndiana State, Tara Hope definitely not Colorado.
But it was just a great journey, a great adventure. They were
(29:15):
all underdogs. Those were kids thatwere overlooked by d one and so it
was fun for me to invest inthose kids, invest in you know.
Now I was a defensive coordinator,so I had a little more responsibility.
Yeah, and so that was fun. Also assistant head coach at some point
in there, right, Yeah,but that was a fun adventure going there.
And I knew I had to getaway from Boulder. I had,
(29:37):
you know, I kept my home. We would come back in the summer
and everything, but to separate myselffrom CU in a healthy way. Absolutely,
it was time. Well, andyou didn't get a head coaching job.
Are you hoping that you would eventuallybe the head coach there? Okay,
yeah, no question, And that'swhy it was best for me to
just sever take a little bit andget Yeah, and it was good.
(30:00):
It was a great adventure with MikeSandford's dad is a great adventure as a
defensive coordinator. Is a great adventurewith kids from you know, I got
to recruit Chicago, oh you know, but it was only several hours away.
So yeah, that was fun tappinginto my Chicago roots. But it
was just a good time. Andyour kids are grown by then, right,
(30:22):
so then it's just you and Beckyand yeah, it's easier to kind
of pick up and go do somethinglike that. Yeah. Right, Then
in twenty twenty, you come backto Boulder. Yes, what brings you
back? I was done coaching.The staff got fired, and I was
done. It was okay for meto come back, moving to my home
in Boulder and live. But theycoaxed you out of retirement. Yeah,
(30:47):
does Rick George come knocking on yourdoor and say, hey, Hello,
we could use your hope because yougot all the secret sauce on how to
get well. I don't know aboutthat. But he gives me a call
and he's like, what are youdoing? Like, I'm not doing anything
because I got hired because I gota job for you. I'm like really,
So I run up the campus andmeet with him, and he creates
(31:11):
a character coach position for me.Now I get to hang out with athletes,
I get to hang out with coaches, I get to for all sports.
I think it's a brilliant position.Oh, it's a fun position.
It's living it for me, it'sliving a dream absolutely. You know,
I don't have to worry about howthey perform. So what do you do
(31:33):
as that kids can come to you? And my biggest thing is developing relationships
with the kids. You know,you have to be around. So I'm
in workouts, I'm at practices.I have some help. I wasn't going
to do it all by myself.So I have a gal that helps me
over at the event center. AndI have a guy, JB. Hall,
(31:56):
who's been around the program, buthe's been the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
and and so he's a black man, and so I've kind of recruited him
to count me with the football team. And you've been involved with FCA for
a very long time. Yeah,yeah, since since I came to see
you. Yeah. So you getto talk to all the athletes, male
and female, and you build relationships. Yes, that is really cool.
(32:20):
What's what's been one of the neatesttakeaways from that since you've been doing it,
you know, it's it's relationship building, you know, it's trying to
earn their trust and to see themget more and more comfortable with me.
The hard part though, coach Primehas flipped the roster. Yeah, so
it's hard and starting all over.But that's the challenge. The landscape so
(32:45):
different in college athletics right now,especially in football, my goodness, and
that's happening at every school. Yeah, and hopefully I can. I'm you
know, kind of the median orthe glue again. Yeah, which you
did so well that that prepared youwell for this future position. You never
knew you'd have a retirement. Yeah. Yeah, so no, I I
(33:07):
I love ce you, I loveRick George. Rick George and I were
on staff with Bill McCartney at onetime. That's how he started there at
CU. He was on coach Max'sstaff, right, Yeah, right,
he was a recruiter, wasn't he. Yes, he was a recruiting coordinator.
And so that was that's awesome backthat Rick saw that in me.
(33:28):
My heart is at CEU, right, My heart is him Boulder, my
heart. Yeah, it's a specialplace, isn't it It is? Yeah?
For me, it is absolute family. I'm glad you came back,
you know, And I understand this. Sometimes you have to go and you
have to separate and figure out whatyou're doing. But it's good that you're
back, all right. So,coach, as you look back throughout your
(33:50):
phenomenal career, whether it be asa player as a coach, you've had
the ups and downs. You've beencut, you've been traded, you've been
fired, what do you tell people, especially with this position that you're in,
when they have those setbacks, howyou keep moving forward. The only
way that I was able to dealwith all of that, the highs and
the lows, was to trust God. He's my strength, He's my hope.
(34:19):
That's all. No. I loveit. I love it well.
And your whole car ride back fromGreen Bay to Boulder and that's what you
did. You said, show methe way and then suddenly a door will
open. Amen. Yes, yeah, that's great, coach. This has
been really really good to catch upwith you. When I saw you downstairs
when you came in the lobby,I'm like, it's been years and I
think it was since you did theinterim as Coach Hawkins interim. So yeah,
(34:45):
it's been a long time and it'sgood to catch up with you.
And I'm glad that you're happy andthings are going well and you're glad to
be back and Boulder and your family'sgood. A man, Well, thanks
for bringing me back. Absolutely.So yeah, I'm like, okay,
why am I doing this? Whatpossibly anyway? Well, it could be
possibly interesting about you. Oh,I don't know, just the last forty
(35:06):
minutes. Now you've done your firstpodcast. How about that. Wow,
Now you're a veteran at podcasting.You could go do this all the time.
What's the podcast? I'll send youthe link. Perfect, Okay,
that'll work. Coach. Thank you, you're welcome. Thank you very much.
Wow, there was some great rawemotion in there. Thank you,
Coach cabral New episodes of Cut,Traded, Fired, Retired are released on
(35:30):
Tuesdays on your favorite podcast platforms.Get social with the podcast on Twitter and
Instagram at ctf our podcast, andcheck out the website ctfurpodcast dot com.
I'm your host, Susie Wargen.To find out more about me, you
can visit susiewargon dot com. Thanksso much for listening, and until next
time, please be careful, besafe, and be kind. Take care
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