Buffs Defense Doesn't Plan On Skipping A Beat For Alamo Bowl
December 16, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — If all goes as planned, the Colorado Buffaloes' defense won't skip a beat when it hits the field for the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State.
CU head coach Mike MacIntyre is confident that will be the case.
With the sudden departure of former defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt now in the rearview mirror, MacIntyre has made some minor adjustments to the Buffs' bowl preparations. After Friday's practice, MacIntyre said safeties coach Joe Tumpkin will call the defense in the bowl game and will also take over coaching linebackers for the next two weeks. Cornerbacks coach Charles Clark will oversee the entire secondary and MacIntyre — who cut his coaching teeth in the secondary — will add an extra set of eyes wherever needed.
The end result, MacIntyre said, will be CU's defensive staff preparing a game plan much as it has done all season.
"It's seamless because the staff works so closely together," he said. "They met together, they watched together, they talked and game planned. Some people think the defensive coordinator goes in a room and gurus it all up and then comes and tells everybody. That's not what happens. … It has to be one voice. Our staff is really close and they've got one voice. It definitely should go seamless. Our kids are very bright and they understand what we want to do in our scheme."
Tumpkin, who served as defensive coordinator at Central Michigan for five seasons before coming to Colorado two years ago, said the game planning process and gameday play calling won't be any different.
"We're all in the same room together, we're all doing the same thing, it's just going to be a different guy calling it," Tumpkin said. "We know what we're going to play, we know what we're going to call, we know how we're going to run it. Nothing's going to change. We're going to run 3-4, we're going to get after people, we're going to try to be aggressive and play good Colorado football."
Making the job easier for the CU staff will be a defense that is dominated by experienced upperclassmen. They have all spent two years in the scheme and are familiar with all the nuances.
"The main thing is we've got really good defensive football players," MacIntyre said. "We've got big linemen, we've got great safeties, we've got really good corners, we've got good linebackers .. they understand the scheme that we want to do now and understand it completely. At this time of the year, they know what we want to call and what we want to do. They'll play really hard and play really well."
While the next step for MacIntyre will be hiring another defensive coach, he said he won't delve deeply into the process until after the Alamo Bowl.
"I'm focusing on winning the bowl game," MacIntyre said. "We haven't won a bowl game here since 2004. We want to go win the bowl game. I'll focus on that. After the bowl game is over, we'll focus on everything else."
The redistribution of duties has also brought about some good-natured joking among the staff as well as from defensive players.
"I was sitting in the staff room last night just going through film and Charles Clark walks in with a Pepsi (Leavitt's favorite sugary soft drink)," Tumpkin said with a laugh. "Today, I'm talking and they're all trying to imitate Leavitt's voice and stuff like that. They kind of get a kick out of it … (But) they understand the situation. Their focus is on trying to win the bowl game and go out as champions."
Tumpkin will likely be a candidate for the coordinator's job once MacIntyre turns his attention to the task of hiring another coach. But Tumpkin said the Alamo Bowl is in no way an "audition."
"The only thing I'm worried about is this bowl game and getting our kids ready to play, send our seniors off the right way and get ready for the next season," Tumpkin said. "That's my focus."
FILLING NEEDS: The Buffs signed three junior college players to letters of intent this week, and it's no coincidence all three are defensive players. MacIntyre said each could come in and contribute immediately to a defense that will lose as many as eight starters to graduation.
Singing letters of intent this week were outside linebacker/defensive end Chris Mulumba from Diablo Valley College, nose tackle Javier Edwards from Blinn College and cornerback Dante Wigley from Holmes Community College.
Mulumba and Edwards both have two years of eligibility remaining; Wigley has three.
"We were excited about getting Javier," MacIntyre said of the 6-3, 330-pound defensive lineman. "He had a lot of choices, in the SEC and throughout the country. He loved our system, he loved what we had. Great young man, we're really excited about getting him.
"We're also excited about Dante Wigley, he's an excellent corner. Chris is an excellent defensive end. He'll be able to rush the passer and play some defensive end. We're excited about all three of those guys. They fit immediate needs. We have some young guys that will be playing too, but that just gives us more and more depth and ability to fill in shoes and reload."
SCHEDULE: The Buffs will practice again Saturday and Sunday, then take Monday off. They will practice again Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, take Friday off and then depart for San Antonio in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu