67Th Annual Colorado Football & Olympic Sports Media Day / August 3, 2019
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67th Annual Colorado Football & Olympic Sports Media Day / August 3, 2019 CU SPORTS INFORMATION – 303/492-5626 – CUBuffs.com – David Plati (Assoc. AD/SID), Curtis Snyder (Asst. AD) QUICKLY The Colorado Buffaloes open their 130th season of intercollegiate football on Friday, August 30, at Sports Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver, squaring off against in-state rival Colorado State in the Rocky Mountain Showdown ... The game, the 91st meeting between the two schools approximately 40 miles apart as the proverbial crow flies, will kick off at 8:10 p.m. mountain and will be televised nationally by ESPN (it will follow Wisconsin at South Florida on the network) ... It will be the 35th time over the last 36 seasons that a CU season opener will be on some kind of local, regional or national television (the lone exception came in 2006 against Montana State, though that game was webcast) … The Buffaloes lead the series with the Rams by a 66-22-2 count, which includes a 12-6 edge in games played in Denver (all but three of the games dating back to 1998 have been played in Denver; however, this is the final one as the 2020 game will be played in Fort Collins. The series will resume in 2023-24, with Boulder hosting in ’23 and back to Fort Collins for ‘24) ... Colorado’s opponents this year were a collective 80-72 a year ago, with six teams making the postseason with four winning nine or more games. Colorado enters 2019 with a 705-508-36 all-time record (a .579 winning percentage), as the Buffaloes are 25th all-time in the NCAA in wins and 36th in winning percentage. Top anniversaries for the CU program in 2019 include the 50th anniversary of the 1969 team that defeated Alabama, 47-33, in the Liberty Bowl; the 30th anniversary of CU’s 1989 Big Eight Conference championship team (and first-ever No. 1 ranking), and the 25th anniversary of the “The Miracle in Michigan” on Sept. 27, 1994. CU MEDIA GUIDE An abbreviated version of the 2019 Colorado Football Media Guide has been provided to the Pac-12 for distribution via flash drive for media day; the final version will be completed in early August and printed copies ahead of the season. BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK RIVALS FOR OPENERS When Colorado opened with Colorado State and Nebraska last year, it was just the 13th time a school opened with back-to-back traditional rivals since the advent of 11 game regular seasons schedules beginning in 1971; and of the previous 12 time, only five schools did it (Boise State, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico State and Temple). Fast-forward to 2019, and the Buffaloes are opening with three traditional rivals: Colorado State in Denver, Nebraska in Boulder and Air Force in Boulder. The Buffaloes and Falcons will meet at Folsom Field on Sept. 14 – the first meeting between the schools since 1974; this be just the second time CSU and AFA appear on the schedule in the same year, along with 1958. After that season, the series with CSU went dormant for 25 years while Air Force appeared every year except one between 1958 and 1974. Colorado has played Colorado State (90), Nebraska (70) and Air Force (16) a combined 176 times; the remaining nine schools on CU’s schedule in 2019 have combined to play the Buffaloes 165 times (and 65 of those by CU’s other top 20th century rival, Utah). CHIAVERINI NAMED ASSISTANT HEAD COACH University of Colorado head football coach Mel Tucker announced at the annual Pac-12 Media Day on July 24 that he named Darrin Chiaverini as assistant head coach. Chiaverini, 41, is in his fourth year on the CU staff, as he returned to his alma mater as co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach in 2016 under then- head coach Mike MacIntyre. When MacIntyre was relieved of his duties last November and Tucker hired on December 5, Chiaverini was one of three assistant coaches that Tucker retained on his first Colorado staff, keeping him on as receivers coach. “Darrin has done a really good job recruiting; he’s relentless,” Tucker said. “He has a really good feel for the University of Colorado and its history. And he’s really stepped up and has been really helpful in our effort to create the football culture that we want to have here.” His receiving corps in Boulder have enjoyed the three most productive seasons in school history, as they have combined for 653 receptions for 8,208 yards and 49 touchdowns. The group has included Bryce Bobo, Shay Fields, Jay MacIntyre, Devin Ross and Juwann Winfree, and most recently, CU junior All- America candidate Laviska Shenault and All-Pac-12 candidate K.D. Nixon. And his accomplishments as a recruiter have been recognized nationally, as Rivals.com named him one of the top 25 recruiters in the nation for 2018. “It’s a huge honor for me,” Chiaverini said. “I have a ton of respect for Coach Tuck and what he’s done for me, giving me the opportunity to stay at Colorado – it shows that he really believes in me. I’m looking forward to helping him build the Colorado program back to among the elite in college football.” Chiaverini joins a short but prestigious list of those who have held the title of assistant head coach. Serving previously in the role were John Mason (1931- 36, for Bunnie Oakes); John Polonchek (1959-61, for Sonny Grandelius); Rudy Feldman (1963-67, for Eddie Crowder); Jerry Claiborne (1971, for Crowder); Doug Dickey (1979, for Chuck Fairbanks); Ron Dickerson (1982-84; for Bill McCartney); Lou Tepper (1986-87, for McCartney); Bob Simmons (1993-94, for McCartney); Chris Strausser (2006, for Dan Hawkins); Jeff Grimes (2007-08, for Hawkins); Brian Cabral (2009-10, for Hawkins); Rip Scherer (2011-12, for Jon Embree); Chiaverini, a native of Orange, Calif., graduated from Corona High School where he was a USA Today honorable mention All-American receiver. During his collegiate career at CU, he caught 97 passes for 1,199 yards and six touchdowns, playing for the coach who recruiting him, Rick Neuheisel. He went on to play four seasons in the NFL with Cleveland, the team that drafted him, Dallas and Atlanta. SUMMER NOTES BUFFS IN NFL CAMPS There are 18 former Colorado Buffaloes currently on the 2019 National Football League rosters ahead of training camps (as of August 2; 15 were on final rosters in 2018 after 19 started out in camps). Colorado has had 245 players all-time go on to make an active NFL roster and 273 all-time draft picks, which ranks as the fourth most among Pac-12 programs and 22nd overall. CU had continually been one of the top 20 producers for the last quarter century of NFL talent and at one time in the late 1970’s had the most active players (47) of any school in the nation. The last time Colorado was in the top 10 in players produced was in 2002 (10th, 29). The active list (KEY: Exp.—denotes number of years in the league; i—on injured reserve/physically unable to perform; p—practice squad): Player Pos. Team Exp. Moses Cabrera Str/Cond New England Asst. S&C Coach, 2010 Chidobe Awuzie CB Dallas Cowboys 2 Jim Caldwell AHC/QB Miami Asst. Coach, 1982-84 David Bakhtiari OT Green Bay Packers 6 Matt Daniels Asst. ST L.A. Rams Grad Asst., 2017 Ken Crawley CB New Orleans Saints 3 Karl Dorrell WR Miami Asst. Coach, 1992-93, 95-98 Mason Crosby PK Green Bay Packers 12 Jon Embree AHC/TE San Francisco Player ‘83-86/Asst. Coach ’91-02 Javier Edwards DT Houston Texans R Head Coach 2011-12 Kabion Ento WR Green Bay Packers R Mark Helfrich Off. Coord. Chicago QB/Off. Coord., 2006-08 Nick Holz QC/Offense Oakland Player, 2003-06 Drew Lewis LB Houston Texans R Vance Joseph Def. Coord. Arizona Player, 1990-94 Phillip Lindsay RB Denver Broncos 1 Asst. Coach, 2002-03 Travon McMillian RB Pittsburgh Steelers R T.C. McCartney QB Denver Grad Asst., 2012-13 Isaiah Oliver CB Atlanta Falcons 1 Tyrone McKenzie ILB Tennessee Grad Asst., 2015 Paul Richardson WR Washington Redskins 5 Chris Morgan OL Atlanta Player, 1995-99 Devin Ross WR Tennessee Titans 1 Kennedy Polamalu RB Minnesota Asst. Coach, 1997-98 Jimmy Smith CB Baltimore Ravens 8 Robert Prince WR Detroit Asst. Coach, 2010 Nate Solder OT New York Giants 8 Rip Scherer TE L.A. Chargers Asst. HC/QB, 2011-12 Tedric Thompson SS Seattle Seahawks 2 Vernon Stephens Asst. S&C Arizona Asst. S&C Coach, 2003-06 Josh Tupou DT Cincinnati Bengals 2 Chris Strausser OL Indianapolis Asst. Coach, 2006 Juwann Winfree WR Denver Broncos R PLAYER PERSONNEL/DEVELOPMENT Ahkello Witherspoon CB San Francisco 49ers 2 Name Team Tie To Colorado COACHES Malcolm Blacken Washington (Dir., PD) Strength Coach, 2011-12 Name Pos. Team Tie To Colorado Jordan Dizon Denver (Scout) Player, 2004-07/Butkus runner-up Klayton Adams OL Asst. Indianapolis Asst. Coach, 2013-18 Matt Russell Denver (Dir., PP) Player, 1992-96/Butkus Award Eric Bieniemy OC/RB Kansas City Player, 1987-90; Duke Tobin Cincinnati (Dir., PP) Player, 1992-93 Asst. Coach, 2000-02,’11-12 Patrick Williams Baltimore (Scout) Player, 2005-08 Tom Cable OL Oakland Asst. Coach, 1998-99 COACHES, continued CANUCKS: One former Buff is in the Canadian Football League, OT Stephone Nembot (Ottawa). WR Shay Fields was on Montreal in the preseason but was released.