Karl Dorrell Believes In His Buffs

Karl Dorrell has faced faced twin challenges since becoming Colorado's head coach in February - a late start in the football calendar followed by a pandemic. But his steady hand and Pac-12 pedigree have helped preserve momentum in Boulder, retaining a strong coaching staff and recruiting class. Ashley Adamson and Yogi Roth go deep on Colorado football with Coach Dorrell.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Our players. They're pretty passionate aboutthis topic and they're not going to let
it, you know, die down. And I know that like voting's coming
up right that, you know,the vote on November third, which we
all registered for. You know,that's a big deal. So that's that's
part of this process too. ButI'm encouraging all of this stuff with our
team to kind of push them outthere, to try to make sure that

(00:22):
their voices are heard. And likeI told you before, you be,
I think they're they're the biggest changeagents. I believe where we're actually going
to see a difference in our lifetime, it's going to be because of our
own people. You know, Ithink we're part of the process, and
me being one of the older people, but I think it's you know,
it's like anything for something to change, it takes time. You know,
it takes a matter of years forthat to kind of get you know,

(00:45):
re established itself. And we probablywon't I probably might not see it in
my lifetime, but they'll definitely seeit in there. But we're hopeful that
we're going to get some positive changeat least going in the right direction in
a very short period of time.All right Scoe Buffs November seventh, cannot

(01:15):
get here soon enough. Colorado.You're looking at their schedule, will see
their five South Division opponents, plusa week two matchup at Stanford as their
scheduled crossover game. And how aboutit, the Carl darrelle Eira said,
to kick off against a program theBuffs new coach is quite familiar with.
Durell of course, went to UCLAgot his first head coaching job there as
well. In another great footnote onthat opening matchup, Carl Darell's very first

(01:40):
game as the Bruins head coach backin two thousand and three was against Colorado
at Folsom Field. So Coach Terrell, here we are seventeen years later.
Amazing how things kind of come fullcircle. What was your just initial reaction
when you saw the Bruins pop upas your opening matchup? That was it
was interesting. It's almost like dejavu, you know, with is this

(02:00):
it's the same similar process, butI'm on the other sideline, so it's
it's an interesting dynamic. But I'mexcited. I'm excited. It's been quite
a bit of time since that firsttime in two thousand and three, but
you know, We're excited to getback playing again and you know, starting
to get us. USA is oneof our division opponents, so that was

(02:21):
something that was going to happen atsome point, you know, anyway,
with how our schedule lines out.But we're excited to get going. You
know, our team is chopping atthe bit right now. I think I
think a lot of our programs intopactrol field this way. Adn't agree more.
Same for US broadcasters, like wecan't get to talk about you guys
and watch them football as well.With that said, what is the update

(02:46):
on your program and when you'll beable to practice in your community based on
everything going around with COVID nineteen.Well, our current update is we're in
that kind of that pre we callit pre practice session going into the training
camp aspect of things, which startson Friday, and our campus is allowing
us to do workouts in small groupsof ten. So we have our one

(03:07):
hundred and seventeen guys on our team, so we're all broken down in two
groups and we have these lifting schedulesand time slots that they're cooperating and doing
their workout programs and right now,so we've been doing kind of doing all
those types of workouts for the lastthat last weekend. This week we go

(03:29):
to camp, or we report forcamp on Thursday, and we start our
first practice Friday, so we shouldbe ready to go. I think it's
worth reminding people, Coach that youwere named head coach to Colorado February twenty
third, and I think it wastwo and a half weeks later, was
one COVID shut everything down, Sono spring ball, no chance for you
to get to know your guys.You mentioned that you've been able to see

(03:51):
them a little bit, but howhave you gotten to actually know your players?
What's what's the communication process been likeover the past six months for you
whenever they've been on camp. ButI've been been trying to put my you
know, going down to watch themin the weight room, to pick off
a few guys here and there,Guys that I haven't had a chance to
have an open dialogue conversation with.Things like that. I've been trying to

(04:13):
pick them all off, you know, one by one by one, just
to kind of create small talk withTeach and every one of our members of
our program. I was able tothough Ashley, when I first got hired
in the February twenty three, Likeyou mentioned, I did interview every single
one of our players in our programfor ten minutes and that took about a
week. My first week was doingthat. So I did have that kind

(04:34):
of that icebreak for talk at thevery beginning. But you bring up a
great point, and I haven't hada lot of just football time with this
team together. It's been sporadic.You know. We had a little bit
of time like that in the summerwhen they had those July months where we're
doing that summer access part of ourour schedule. We were able to do

(04:55):
some walkthroughs and lifting and stuff likethat. Nothing from a team perspective,
But and then you remember we madeour announcement to not play, and then
we dispersed for a while and thencame back. So this is really that
first time, you know that whenwe start camp where everybody's going to be
in the building and we're going tobe in meetings and and really going through

(05:15):
kind of a normal football process.So we'll be ready, you know,
like you said, you know it'sspring practice is that's coming gone. So
now we're we got four weeks tobe ready for a first game, and
we feel we have plenty of timeto do that. Coach, there has
not been a quarterback competition since Ibelieve it was Connor Wood and Stepha Lufau
about eight years ago in Boulder.You guys clearly have one now with the

(05:40):
departure of Stephen Montes. What areyour thoughts so far? It's just seeing
guys work out a little bit,and can you give us some insight into
the position and the competition that's aboutto ensue. Well, it's it's it's
a good question, and that's that'skind of the the one hundred thousand dollars
question really for this program is youknow who would that starter be? And
you know, we were able totalk a gentleman that I already graduated to

(06:03):
come back and Sam Noyer, sohe's part of the equation there being a
grad the player for us. AndTyler Lytle's the next guy that who was
the backup last year, actually who'sthe third string last year because Stanstrom transferred
out to Princeton. But Tyler hashad some experience, not a lot of

(06:25):
experience, and even in this lastseason and I think he threw three total
passes throughout the whole season, sohe hasn't had a lot of playing time,
But those two guys are kind ofthe primary guys to see how that's
going to turn out with the repsin competition that we go through camp.
The third, but he's kind ofthe obviously the dark horse, but really

(06:46):
not really is the freshman, thekid that came in midyear and in Brindan
those so he's got a little bitfurther to go because it's so new to
him compared to the other two thathave been in the program. But all
three are very talented players. Theylack some experience obviously, but you know,
we think it's you know, betweenthe three, we're going to be

(07:08):
able to find a solid player thatcan manage the offense and then hopefully grow
and get better week after week whenwe play. We've heard rumors that Brendan
Lewis is a bit of a beastin the weight room and that he's been
breaking all the lasting records for quarterbacks. Yeah, that's kind of excited to
see him, whatever his time is. You know, actually that is that
is kind of funny because here isa freshman, right and he has most

(07:30):
of these records in terms of theirstrength games that are on the quarterback.
You know, record board, sothat tells you a little bit about his
athletic system. He's a very competitiveathletic player. We think he's going to
have a very very bright future.He's just a young player, but he's
as you can say, he's verystrong, and he's athletic and things like
that, and maybe we'll create somethings for him as we go throughout the

(07:55):
season. You know, I thinkcoach, whoever your quarterback is, obviously
they're going to have some weapons tothrow to you. Lou Lose, Levisca
Chenalt and Tony Brown NFL guys,and yet your receiving corps still feels like,
you know, it's this incredibly deepand a huge strength of your team.
What do you see in that position? It is a young but talented
group led by Katie Nixon, who'sour our senior coming back and you know,

(08:20):
so we're hoping that he does agreat job. Was kind of leading
the charge for for that group.You know, Dmitri Stanley has some good
positive moments last year, Maurice Belldid as well. Jalen Jackson. All
these guys had some time and hassome experience last year and played. They
don't have the only thing that's kindof the knock though, Ashley, is
that they we don't have that returnerthat's coming back that has sixty receptions.

(08:43):
Right, We've had a bunch ofwe have a bunch of guys that are
five reception and seven here, twelvehere, twenty two there. Not not
quite a you know, not likea returning starter that's had a great productive
year. We haven't had that typeof you know, in term what's coming
back on our program. But wefeel kas is the leader of that,

(09:03):
Katie Nixon, and we're hoping thathe has a great yet for us.
You know, this six game stretch. We had him on our podcast earlier
this summer, and you feel hisexuberance, his confidence through like the zoom
call. He's he's amazing to connectto. With that said, I feel
as though a layman would say,well, coach Terrell hasn't really been around

(09:24):
as players a ton, they mightstruggle, But I think if you follow
the program, Darren Shivni, heremains there. Tyson Summers State remains there.
Do you feel like there's a consistencythere that maybe isn't seen by just
a headline around the country. Ibelieve there's a foundation, yes, because
those two guys which are the coordinatorsyou know there, they understand the scope

(09:48):
of what their players are on eachside of the ball. What they know.
So we've trained, We've changed afew things in terms of scheme and
you know, things that we're doingfrom from scamatics scamp point on both sides
of the ball. But we didit really with minimal terminology change. So
in other words, they the samebuzzwords and things that they'd heard last year

(10:13):
are really the same terms they're goingto hear this year. It might be
a little tweak and in a systemfor two, but it was important that
I kept that type of continuity givenhow la I was hired to try to
not being too bad a shape goinginto the season. So I think Darren's
going to do an excellent job beingour leader of the offense. And Tyson,

(10:33):
who's had experience as a head coachand as a coordinator in other places,
I think he'll continue to grow andbe better as a defensive coordinator too.
So we felt like we did havea pretty good foundation and Carl I
think that continuity speaks to another impressivething that I want to make sure people
understand and that's the fact that alot of recruits could have pulled their commitments

(10:54):
and gone elsewhere when mill Tucker left, especially given the timing of it all.
Not a single one of them.Did. Every player in the incoming
freshman class stayed committed. How isthat possible? I was lucky, Ashley,
I mean I but first of allit helped was you know, Yogi
just mentioned keeping Tyson on board andkeeping Darren on board, and then we

(11:16):
had Brian Mcilowski, you know,he stayed and Darien Hagen. I did
keep some of the core of thelast year's staff here intact, so that
helped just to be able to keepthose recruits engage before I got here,
and then when I did get here, I tried to sell myself as best
I could at about you know,honoring their scholarships and how excited I am

(11:39):
about getting them in their program.I watched all of their their take when
they're in high school, you know, I looked at the class and studied
them, and I really was impressedwith you know who they were coming in
and we talked a lot of allalong the way of me and introducing myself,
and I think they felt comfortable,you know, I just felt they
feel comfortable that, you know,things are gonna be fine. I get

(12:01):
there's a new head coach that didn'trecruit me, but I like him.
He's, you know, he seemslike I could be a stand up guy.
He's you know, he's he saysall the things that I want to
hear. So I think all thosethings worked out in my favor. And
that class that you're talking about that'shere and was here this summer, they're
fabulous. I mean, there's alot of those guys that are going to
have a chance to play for usand help us this this fall. That's

(12:24):
really well said, coach. Butbefore we let you go, I just
want to follow up on something offthe field. Last time you came on
this show, he talked openly aboutsocial justice and what your program planned to
do and be consistent once a monthor whatever the cadence may be. It's
gonna curious the update around your programand your plans of what you've done and
what you plan to do. Isyou get going with the season, that's
a that's a good question. Again, you'll be and yes, we're we

(12:46):
are going to be proactive. Youknow throughout the season, we've had discussions
with our team. There's gonna bethings that we're gonna say that we're gonna
wear a pregame that are gonna youknow, show our unity and the things
that we stand for that will havesignage, whether it's on the helmet or
whether it's a T shirt or westill are going to be involved in some

(13:07):
community endeavors when we get a chanceto. COVID is kind of restricted,
you know, a lot of stuffto do in group gatherings of big proportions
out in public, so we haven'thad a chance to do those types of
things. But the messaging is there, and our players have have they're pretty

(13:28):
passionate about this topic and they're notgoing to let it, you know,
die down. And I know thatlike voting is coming up right, you
know, the vote on November third, which we all registered for. You
know, that's a big deal.So that's that's part of this process too.
But I'm encouraging all of this stuffwith our team to kind of push
them out there, to try tomake sure that their voices are heard.

(13:50):
And like I told you before,you be I think they're they're the biggest
change agents. I believe where we'reactually going to see a difference in our
lifetime. It's going to be becauseof our young people. You know.
I think we're part of the process, and me being one of the older
people, but I think it's youknow, it's like anything for something to
change, it takes time, youknow, it takes a matter of years

(14:11):
for that to kind of get,you know, re established itself. And
we probably won't I probably might notsee it in my lifetime, but they'll
definitely see it in there. Butwe're hopeful that we're going to get some
positive change or at least going inthe right direction in a very short period
of time, you know. Sowe're hoping we are too. And Coach

(14:31):
just want to say what you're lookingcoom forward to seeing everything that you guys
do both off the field and onthe field this season. One last note
as we say goodbye, Petrol Championshipgame, probably for the only time,
is happening to number eighteenth, whichis your birthday. So I know that
would be the ultimate birthday present,and I promise that Yogi Rath will throw
a very large socially distanced birthday bashif if that comes to fruition, So

(14:54):
keep an eye on I'm counting onit, bash Y, I'm counting on
being in that chair. At leastwe're going to put our best South there
to be getting that year. ButI appreciate that. Thank you. You
know, Yogi, we talk aboutColorado being in the PacTel Championship game and

(15:15):
what a birthday present that would beto Carl Durrell in his first year,
he said, coach of the Buffs, but in twenty twenty, honestly,
like, I know, no one'sgonna pick the Buffs, but would it
surprise you if they figured out away and got there? It would It
would surprise me just based on everythingis so fresh in terms of at least
their quarterback position. And I think, you know, the teams they're playing,

(15:41):
you know, are going to bepretty strong. It's just kind of
what the Pacteal South is. Butthey're gonna be in every game, Like,
can they put it together seven straightweeks? We're gonna find out.
I don't know, but I dothink this team, and I asked him
that is it's probably undervalued around thecountry because you just think of the generalities
he got there. When you referencedhe go out there, he hasn't really
been around the team there so farbehind. I just think, just like

(16:02):
Washington State, the twelve twelve hourCARA rules were the coach are allowed to
be with their athletes during this pandemicat least based on version two point zero
for the pacteal schedule and the ruleschange I think really benefits Colorado because let's
remember that state up until, youknow, a week and a half ago,
they were in good standing around COVIDnineteen for the most part, so
they were able to do some stuffwith their players. So again you add

(16:26):
in the coordinators remaining or at leastDarren Shifferini being elevated, the coordinator still
being on the staff. He's beenthere for a long time. I think
that helped this team. And meanyou dive into it, we did it
about a week or two ago.They're pretty talented, Like it's not like
they have gaping holes, Like dothey have next level players every position?
No, But they're not gonna Idon't think they get trounced. I don't
think they can't compete. I thinkthis team will be in every ball game.

(16:49):
So can they pull it out.I think a lot of that depends
on who's taking the snaps from Center. Yeah, and I think, a
man, it's worth mentioning they returnedfifteen starters from a year ago. And
then you talk about that young groupthat Carl Darell sort of lit up when
we were talking about the recruits thatcome in, And I want to underscore
that point because to not lose asingle recruit from this freshman class, when

(17:11):
all of them would have had everyright to go somewhere else or follow mel
or whatever the case may be.I just think it speaks to not only
having Chevin Tyson Summer's staying and thatcontinuity, obviously that was huge, but
also to Carl Darell and being ableto in a very short time sell his
vision and get guys to buy into what he wants to do, and

(17:32):
the Prince you know that he wantsto put on this program in Boulder.
Shad Clayton running back out of NewOrleans consensus fourth star recruit, a guy,
A lot of Bus fans are reallyexcited. It was a big deal.
He apparently like looked elsewhere and thoughtabout Leavin and then eventually chose to
stay and stick with it. SoI think that speaks a lot to who
this incoming group is and it's goingto be fun to see who they are

(17:56):
on the field. Also want tomention receiving Corps. We talked about how
that was one of the you know, points of strength for this program.
Jerry Rice's son, Brendan Rice,part of that. And I was looking
at his bio and the thing thathe loves that he loves to do in
a spare time is read poetry.So I just feel like he's somebody that

(18:17):
we got to get dialed in onand meet soon because I'm anybody who puts
the reading poetry in their bio isthe thing that they love to do away
from football, has me has myinterest peaked? Jokes Well, you always
say receivers, not just because Iwas one. You know, it's poet
degree. But you nailed it.And I think what's great about not only
having mister Rice in your receiving corps, it's great in recruiting and hopefully Jerry

(18:37):
gets on campus when he can.He's a talented player. You referenced running
back that they brought in a SeanClayton, really talented player. But think
of the competitive depth now, right, Alex Fatno, Jared Mangum. I
mean they have huge ceilings. Theycarried the load. Last year. He
could have been a thousand yeard rusher. Last year in Fatino, he missed
a couple of games with an injury. And then when I look at my

(19:00):
eval on Clayton coming out of highschool, number one, they beat originally
LSU Bama Auburn right out of thevaunted SEC. Then they hold off Michigan
after the coaching change, And tome, he's a top twenty running back
in the nation. He's really talentedplayer. He's patient, he's got great
vision. He's a big back rightwith not only great ability, but he's
a downhill back. And I thinkanytime you see NFL coaches go from from

(19:25):
the league to college, there isan element of the run game that's just
different because you spent so much timestudying it in the offseason in the NFL.
And you look at where Carl Drellhas been in the league and in
college. Granted he's been around thereceiver position, but his receivers always blocked
well. Running game has always beena big part of wherever he's been.
So I can't wait to see howthey compete in camp, and I think
that's going to be really fun andI think that competitive depth is going to

(19:51):
allow for practice to be great.I think to allow them to really elevate,
you know, their preparedness for aweek one against UCLA. So yeah,
don't count this team out. AndI'm I'm a big fan of the
consistency that Coachrell has brought to theprogram, so they'll be in every game.
If you're a broadcaster, you'd wantto call Colorado games because you know
they're always going to be competitive weekendand week out. And with kind of
the unknown two degree of coach Drell, it makes it really intriguing in my

(20:14):
eyes. Yeah, no doubt.I think it's going to be interesting to
see how it all plays out,certainly, and I guess my first question
should have been not would you besurprised if they made a run to the
Pacteal Championship game, but more pointedout, it is twenty twenty and really
nothing, no outcome should surprise usat this point if we've learned anything from
the last what is it ten monthsthat we've been living in this wild times

(20:38):
that we're in UCLA November seventh,that's going to be an interesting full circle
matchup there against his alma mater,and former team. Of course, as
we mentioned at the beginning of theinterview, appreciated Carl Durrell's time Yogi great
stuff. As always, in areminder to our listeners, please rate,
review, subscribe to the Pactical Perspectivepodcast and if you want some mentel on

(20:59):
some of the other PAC twelve teams. I imagine if you're listening to this
you're a hardcore bus fans, butif you want to hear from some of
the other coaches in the league,be sure to check those out. We're
doing interviews with all twelve coaches.You can find those on the PAC twelve
Perspective podcast as well as pack Dashtwelve DAC