Below are select quotes from the press conference announcing Mike MacIntyre as
the new head football coach at the University of Colorado on December 10, 2012.
Athletic Director Mike Bohn
Opening Statement
"Good
afternoon, thank you everyone for coming.
We appreciate it very much. It is
an exciting day for us. I would be remiss
if I didn't start out first by congratulating our football team, their poise
and their patience and their dedication to this university has been exemplary and
I'm very appreciative of that and very proud of them. I'm also most appreciative of the partners we
had during this search process in helping us; our senior leadership, Board of
Regents, major stakeholders and fans, and clearly our staff in the athletic
department helping us pull that together as well as some of our consultants on
the national level. There is no question
about it, we hired a football coach that all Buffs can stand shoulder to
shoulder with and we couldn't be prouder of Mike [MacIntyre] and his
family. He is a fit with our Guiding
Principles and our high academic standards at the University of Colorado. He is a proven recruiter, a teacher and he's a
leader who executes a plan of a fundamentally strong program, and we couldn't
be prouder than to introduce the new head football coach at the University of
Colorado, Mike MacIntyre."
Head Football Coach Mike MacIntyre
Opening Statement
"What
a great honor. I feel very blessed and
honored to be the head football coach at the University of Colorado. I just left a program of young men who cared
deeply, who went from 120th in the nation to 24th in
every poll in two-and-a-half years, raised their APR from 930 to 981 and committed
to being successful; a coaching staff that was relentless and I look forward to
bringing a lot of those guys on that coaching staff here to build something
special here at Colorado. I'm honored to
be a Pac-12 [Conference] coach, all my life I wanted to be a coach, I grew up a
coach's son and it is in my blood. I'm
very appreciative of [CU President] Bruce [Benson] and [CU-Boulder Chancellor]
Phil [DiStefano] for the opportunity that you have given me. Mike [Bohn], thank you very much, I will make
you proud, I promise you. We will work
tirelessly, we will work correctly, and we will work with passion. I think as you get to know me, you will say
one thing about Mike MacIntyre, he has passion.
You might say some other things, but you are going to say that I have passion. I believe that my passion and my energy and my
love for young people and making them be successful is very important to
me. We'll win a lot of football games
but at the same time these young men are going to learn a lot of life lessons,
and I want them to walk out of here men that will be great fathers, great
leaders, great businessmen and great husbands, and you can do all of that in
college football. That is why I coach
college football, that is why I enjoy it, I enjoy mentoring young people and I'm
excited about what we have ahead of us.
Yes, we have a long way to go, but I've been there before and I know
what to do."
On Why He Decided To Become The Head Football
Coach At CU
"I think
first of all when I met with Phil [DiStefano], Bruce [Benson] and Mike [Bohn],
I really liked what they said. I felt a
sense of commitment, total commitment to getting it done. I felt like also they cared about young
people and what the university is doing for these young people. I also felt like, 'Wow,' when I was growing
up and playing ball, Colorado was special.
I definitely think they can get there again. I like the footprint of the Pac-12. I've coached in California now and recruited
in that state and I know all the ins and outs of it. I coached in Texas when I was with the Dallas
Cowboys and my kids went to high school there.
I know that state. Colorado, the
population of Denver and some other areas is growing, meaning there are more
and more high schools. I feel like there
is a good footprint for getting more high school football players in
Colorado. I like the footprint of the Pac-12,
I like the school's that are associated with it, and there is no reason that Colorado
shouldn't be on the top of that conference and competing year in and year
out. I'm excited about that."
On Meeting With CU Players
"At first, I
can tell they are hurting a little bit, as they should be. They want to prove themselves. When you walk around campus and you go places
and you want to be something special and that hasn't really happened. That is something that I see. That's something I saw at San Jose State. These young men are hungry. They looked me in the eye and listened to
every word I said. The last thing I told
them was, 'Don't do a double negative.'
They asked me, 'What do you coach?' I said, 'You're kind of down right
now, I'm here, you have a little new life, so to speak, take care of your
exams, make sure you take care of your papers and don't push that off knowing
that would be a double negative when you come back in January and bury yourself
in a hole.' They were listening closely. There were a lot of other things that I said that
is between me and them. I was really pleased
with what I saw. They all came up and
shook my hand and looked me in the eye.
I was very impressed with that."
On The Similarities Of What He Took Over At
San Jose State And Now CU
"They had
won two games a year before. My first year
at San Jose State, we won one. We only
had seventy five scholarships and we were on APR penalty at that time. We came out of all of that. I think I see young men that are hungry. Just like Colorado, San Jose State had some
great teams in the late 1980's and early 1990's. A lot of pro football players, just like
Colorado. I think the cycles kind of
run. San Jose State was going into a new
conference and Colorado is in a new conference.
I see a lot of similarities there.
I see an administration, just like that administration that I walked
into. An Athletic Director, Tom Bowen,
who hired me that was energetic and tired of kind of getting their butts kicked
and wanted to win and wanted to do get things done that you have to do. They have put all of that ahead and showed me
that they are going to do it and I'm excited about the opportunity to get it
done."
On The Difficulties That He Will Face At CU
"Wow, I
don't know them all yet. That's
something you hit on the run and you work with.
I think the similarity of what you have to work with is that you're
trying to change everything in a positive light. When you go somewhere, always there are people
who say, 'Oh, we don't do it that way,' or 'We can't do it.' There are always excuses made. You can't listen to excuses. My slogan is: 'No excuses, no regrets.' Find a way.
If you can't do it that way, we have to find another way to be
successful. I think I'll find those as I
go through and everyone will work together and we'll find options that make us have
a chance to be successful. I do not know
all of the different situations. Every
school has different situations. Even
the schools you see right now in the top 25, they have issues too. You work through everything and you find a
way to be successful."
On A Sense Of Urgency
"There is
always a sense of urgency. You develop; the
word I use instead of patience is perseverance.
I think there is a big difference.
Perseverance, you're working continuously every day. Even at San Jose State when we were 1-12, I
could see us improving in every aspect.
What everyone else sees is what is on that field and what is on that
scoreboard. And until we started clicking
on that scoreboard and once our kids clicked and tasted that victory, they
wanted to keep tasting it. We had the
foundation built. You can't just start,
you have to build a foundation. Once you
have that foundation built, it keeps continually growing. They (San Jose State) are going to have a good
football team again next year and for a while.
They've got a good foundation and lots of players that know what to
do. Patience is a key word but I think
perseverance is a better word."
On Support From The University
"It was very
integral. If they just say, 'Here's a
paycheck, go get it done,' then you have to wait a minute. It's not Mike MacIntyre doing this. It's all of us. It's everyone doing their part and then it
happens. That goes from administration, from
the athletic department, from the professors, from the provost, from the
players, from training room, everybody involved. The S.I.D. office, everyone has to be doing
it. When you do that and everyone
realizes they are a part of it, and they realize that that machine will not
work the way we want it to unless everyone is doing their part. That's just like I tell my team all the time,
'You all got a role.' Do your role with
all your might. If you do that, and you
understand how important your role is, you'll be successful. This is the whole aspect of everything."
On His Recruiting Plan
"We are going
to absolutely blanket the state of Colorado and we are going to absolutely
blanket the state of California. I look
at California as in-state. We're playing
a lot of games over there, a lot of games in that area and there are a lot of
good football players. There are only
seven Division I football schools that play football in California. There are 1,048 high schools that play
football. Do the math. We can find some guys. I know where they are and we will go find
them. We will do a great job of doing
that and I have a staff that knows that like the back of their hand. Colorado is a state that is growing in
football popularity and in size, so there are going to be more and more players
in this state too. We are going to win
this state (Colorado) in recruiting. We
need to make sure we do that and that is one of our big, big goals."
On Bringing Network Camps To CU
"Yes, we
will do network camps here in Colorado and around the state. We will also be able to get involved with
some different camps in California. We
will be able to do that. I think it is
very important that you do that because you get to meet the young men, you get
to evaluate them, you get to work with them and see if they can handle
coaching. They get to know you. It's not the stars beside their names on
Rivals.com and Scout.com; it's getting the right 22 to 25 guys that fit what
you want, that fit this school that you want, that fit your offense, that fit
your defense and fit your mental makeup of the tenacity that you want. I want them to have a chip on their
shoulder. That's important to have
that."
On Recruiting In Texas
"We are definitely
going to recruit in Texas. Jim Jeffcoat,
one of my coaches, he is a big name there.
He recruits there now for us (San Jose State). I definitely think we are going to recruit
Texas. To me, the Pac-12 is more
focused, television wise, kids sitting in their homes in eighth and ninth
grade, they are watching more Pac-12 games. The kids in Texas are watching more Big 12
games, if that makes sense to you. I
think we are going to have a lot more success getting more of those kids (out
of California). We're still going to get
guys out of Texas. I had two guys at San
Jose State (from Texas); our kicker was perfect. He went 15-of-15, he is from Texas. There are still really good players there and
we are going to do that. I think
percentage wise; guys that really think about playing at Colorado and know that
they are going to go back be playing in California, knowing that they will be
seen on television and on the Pac-12 Network.
I think that gives us a better percentage wise getting the top guy you
want."
On Who Made Contact First
"Colorado
contacted me. I was just sitting there
working as hard as I could. I was very flattered that they contacted me and very
excited about the opportunity. As the
process went along, it was enjoyable meeting them and working with
everything. That's how that worked."
On If He Ever Considered Coaching At Colorado
"When I saw
that the job was open, I said, 'Oh that would be a nice place to coach.' I've been in this business so long, if you go
hunting them, it just doesn't work. If
they find out about your reputation and you work hard at your job and you take
care of your kids and take care of your home and you're doing it right, they'll
find you. That's how it works."
On Stanford And The Pac-12 Conference
"They are a
very physical football team. The Pac-12
is kind of interesting. There are a few
very physical teams and then everyone else is spread out. I think [Stanford] has been able to be
successful because they are a little more unique, so I kind of learned
that. We (San Jose State) went against
them last year and we had our chance and we didn't get it done. Of course we see a lot of Pac-12 games on
television in San Jose, so I've been able to see a few of those. We played Colorado State last year right
after Colorado played them so I got to see film and watch that. I have a good feel for the Pac-12. Of course, we recruit against that at San
Jose State all of the time. I know a lot
of the kids (current CU players). A lot
of the kids came up and said something to me when I met with them today. That is the feel I have for that. I don't know it in depth. I haven't watched a ton of Pac-12 film,
except for the teams that we had a chance to play."
On If Any Current CU Players Impress Him
"I haven't
watched much so I cannot give you an answer on that. I know there are some good players here. I know that we will get out there and get
working and find our niche and we'll keep pushing along and find out where they
can all fit. We'll get the best 22 out there
and then the best backups and get ready to roll."
On If He Will Keep Any Of Colorado's Current
Assistant Coaches
"What I'll
do is exactly what I did before. I'll
interview everyone on the staff and see where everything fits. I'll then find out what guys from San Jose
State are coming and there are a few other people out there also of course. I'll definitely interview everyone on the
staff. When I was at San Jose State, I
kept three of the guys, so it was a good deal."
On His Favorite Playing Styles
"I don't
know if I have that long to tell you. On
offense, [San Jose State] broke the scoring record for our school. Our quarterback broke every passing record there
was. We will run out of a pistol
alignment. Basically we are in the gun; that
allows us to be able to run downhill runs, inside zone, outside zone, gap, and
power. We're also able to get the ball
out of our hands quick, able to throw the ball to our receivers for all of the
bubble screens, quick screens, so a spread principle. I want to be able to have a run play-action
conflict on the defense. Therefore, when
I have that hard downhill run, I get the linebackers in on it. Our (San Jose State) tight end was up for the
Mackey Award, he was the leading tight end in the WAC so we were able to
utilize him. We'll use multiple personnel groups, kind of like Boise State did for
all of those years. I like how they did
that. When you play more people, more
personnel groups, there are more happy kids.
They practice harder. They do
better in class. They play harder and
you have better production. We (SJSU)
also had 1,000-yard rusher; he is three yards short, but he'll get that in the
bowl game. Defensively, we run a
4-3. A lot of 4-2-5 principles because
so many people run four wides and three wides; similar to TCU. That's what we do there. On defense last year in the WAC, we had the No.
1 sacker, the No. 2 sacker, the No. 3 sacker and the No. 6 sacker. We had the No. 1 tackle for loss, the No. 2
tackle for loss, the No. 3 tackle for loss and the No. 5 tackle for loss
players. Sixteen of the 44 spots, our
guys were All-WAC. A few years ago, we
hardly had anybody on it. Those kids, we
develop them very well. We have a very
good system to develop them. Special
teams wise, we are going to be aggressive in attacking. That depends on how good your returners are,
so hopefully we will have some good returners."
On Winning Now
"If you
don't believe you can win, you're not going to win. Will we win every game? I don't know, but if they do not believe they
can win when they step on the field - what I mean by that, I'll explain it to
you. You know how when you go swimming
you kind of stick your toe in the water you either think it's good and you jump
in or your think it's cold and you don't.
When you walk out onto the football field, sometimes football teams do
that. They stick their toe in and go,
'Oh, I don't know if I can play with them.'
We're not going to do that. We're
going to dive in and go play. If we do
that, eventually we're going to win more than we lose. They better believe they can win. That's what I'm trying to tell them."
On Why He Became A Football Coach
"My mom
asked me the same thing. I'll tell you
what... talking about my dad always gets me choked up. I saw a man who cared about people and I can't
tell you how many guys call me, text me, e-mail me that played for him, and
coaches that coached with him. He was a
life changer and I feel that is what I like to do. I love to win football games, but I like to
help change lives to get them to where they want to be and help them learn life
lessons and grow as men. That is what I
saw him do and that is why I coach in college.
I could have stayed in the pros; I got my Ph.D. when I coached in the
pros. When you coach for Bill Parcells,
you learn a lot of football. I missed
mentoring young men."
On His Recruiting Sales Pitch To Play At Colorado
"Well
first of all, the university and what it stands for; the beauty, the
magnificence of this place, all that it can offer them as a kid when they are
going to be an adult. I think that is
what you start with first, is the university then you can start talking about
football. They have got to want to be at
Colorado, Okay? I walk into a house and
a kid might say, 'Well I don't want to be at Colorado,' then I would just go to
the next house. You can't just keep
beating your head against a brick wall, you're wasting time, there is another
guy down the road that wants to be here that is good. So we will do that, then we will start
talking football, and they enjoy that.
So it will be first do they want to be at Colorado, and second of all we
will start talking football and show them what we can do, what I can do for
them and go from there. And we want the
right fit now, I can't say that enough, evaluating a person and talent is the
key of being successful. When I went to
San Jose State, there wasn't a house I went into that the kid wanted to be at
San Jose State at first, but we kept evaluating them, kept working with them,
kept going, and we were able to find young men that were very successful, have
been successful in the classroom, have been successful off the field, and have
been very, very successful on the football field."
On Whether He Plans To Coach San Jose State In Their Bowl
Game
"I
don't know, that is a very good question, we have not crossed those barriers
yet. I'm going to do whatever Colorado
wants me to do. I've got a lot of work
to do. My heart is at the bowl game, but
my mind and body are here working because I know how that goes. So, that is a tough question right now, and I
will have to get with Mike [Bohn] and Gene Bleymaier (athletic director) at San
Jose State, but it is going to be a tough situation. I think they will do fine without me to be
honest with you. I know that sounds
crazy but they are prepared, they have had a great season, a lot of my staff
will have to stay there of course and do it (coach the game), and I think they
will be extremely successful and get their 11th win and become the
winningest football team in San Jose State Division I history."
On The Possibility Of Not Coaching The Bowl Game Making The Decision
To Accept The CU Job More Difficult
"Yeah,
yeah it did. It made it really tough, it
really did."
On The State Of Colorado Law Limiting Multi-Year Contracts
Becoming A Challenge To Forming A Coaching Staff
"I
don't think so, we've talked about that and also there is some leeway in there,
but I don't think that will be a problem.
I have a couple guys on my staff and they love to joke about it. One of them has had 30 one-year contracts and
he has done really well, so I haven't had that as a problem before and I don't
think it will be [here]. The contract
also kind of goes with the head coach in a way.
I'm at the beginning of my run, we win a couple and we get another one,
'Here we go.' So that is kind of the way
it works, I don't think that will be a big deal."
On Recruiting An Eli Manning Type Player To Colorado
"I
called Eli, and he has a little kid, but he is only 10, so I have to wait a
little bit. We will definitely try (to
recruit a quarterback of Manning's caliber).
David Cutcliffe, who I cut my teeth under, taught me a lot about working
with quarterbacks. And working under him
for two years there at Ole Miss when I was coaching receivers and seeing him
tutor Eli, and what he has done of course with Payton (Manning) and the
quarterback that he now has at Duke is phenomenal. We will get some good quarterbacks, and
hopefully there is a quarterback here that can do it. And we will teach them maybe a little bit
differently than the way they have been taught, not knocking anything, we just
do it different. I do it the David
Cutcliffe way, and it has always worked so that is the only way I know. So hopefully we will be able to prepare one of
these young men here or be able to recruit one. I'm going to have to be able to recruit some
in time because I'm going to be here for a while."
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