Woelk: May Team Meeting Was Defining Moment For Buffs

SAN ANTONIO — In every season worth remembering, there are defining moments, those instants when the scale of success or failure tips ever so slightly in one direction or the other.

In years past, the Colorado Buffaloes had more than their fair share of the latter. Late turnovers, late breakdowns, late miscues that led to heartbreak and another chorus of "Close but ..."

This season, however, the Buffs finally tipped that scale of fate in their favor. One could even argue that CU's very first touchdown of the year was a harbinger of things to come.

First touchdown? In a season of highlight-reel moments, it is certainly not among the most memorable. It made no one's top 10 list.

But when CU center Alex Kelley jumped on a Sefo Liufau fumble in the end zone in the season opener to give Colorado a 7-0 lead over Colorado State, it was nevertheless a sign that maybe … just maybe … the ball was going to bounce in the Buffs' favor this season.

There were more. Plenty more.

Ahkello Witherspoon's last-minute interception at Oregon that clinched a win over the Ducks. Bryce Bobo's one-handed touchdown grab in the same game, one that required replay for officials to award Colorado a touchdown. Phillip Lindsay's 75-yard touchdown run against Arizona State, the Buffs' longest play from scrimmage this season. Kenneth Olugbode's fumble recovery at Stanford in the fourth quarter, when the Buffs' backs were literally and figuratively against the wall. Liufau's 11-yard run against Washington State that gave the Buffs the lead over the Cougars for good. Ryan Moeller's strip of Joe Williams and Chidobe Awuzie's recovery of Williams' fumble as Utah knocked on the door of the Colorado end zone, threatening to take the lead and momentum in a game that decided the Pac-12 South title.

Those are just a handful of moments that told us Mike MacIntyre's Buffs were in for a special season.

But in every turnaround season, along with those moments under the bright lights and television cameras, there are other equally significant situations that can make or break a season — instances of great consequence that occur when no one is watching.

This year, that moment for the Buffaloes came last May in a team meeting that included Macintyre, players and nobody else.

To this day, MacIntyre and the players remember the meeting well.

"Very vividly," Sefo Liufau said last week with a smile.

Not that anyone was smiling at the time. The meeting came when everyone — players and coaches — sensed that the Buffs had reached a crossroads. Spring ball was over, summer strength and conditioning drills were still ahead and the Buffs somehow knew they had reached a point when they had to reach a consensus: everyone had to be all in.

"That was our defining moment," MacIntyre recalled this fall. "It was a meeting with just me and the players, period. We gelled at that time. We walked out of that meeting and we were either going to get it done or we weren't — and they decided to get it done."

Even today, seven months later, players still point to that May team meeting as a crucial juncture of their season.

"When we walked out, you kind of knew we were going to go one way or another," Liufau said. "We were at a crossroads of which direction we were going to go in terms of success or failure. We really bonded that day and we understood what needed to be done. It helped us prepare through June, July and August because we understood that everyone had to do what was necessary and that we had to be accountable. It kind of set the tone for everything that happened after that."

One tone of the meeting was honesty. Players had a chance to be frank, to speak their minds.

Understand, not all such meetings end well. Some can end up being divisive. But when the dust had settled, the Buffs emerged with a clear idea of what they needed to do in order to get where they wanted to go.

"I definitely remember that meeting," safety Tedric Thompson said. "There was a lot of stuff going on, and it was a moment that we had to do some soul searching. We had to realize that we needed to stop doing some of the things we were doing outside of football if we really wanted to turn this thing around. I knew we were either going to turn it around or start sinking."

The result, MacIntyre said, was gradual but steady. As he and his staff watched, the Buffs began to approach their work with a renewed vigor and defined sense of purpose.

"After that, the work ethic, the attitude, the sacrifice, the team camaraderie — all the things you hear about in cliches — they all came together," MacIntyre said.

Players saw the same thing. Not overnight, but in steady increments. It happened in the weight room, in volunteer workouts and in conditioning drills. Players held each other accountable and the goal of a turnaround season began to take shape.

"Over that next couple of weeks, you could just see it change," Thompson said. "We were going to turn it around and everybody was on board."

MacIntyre saw the change. By the time the Buffs were ready to open fall camp in August, he was convinced this could be a special year — and he told them so in camp.

"What I started seeing them doing on a daily basis in the summer, I realized they'd bought in," MacIntyre said. "Then when we started going into camp, I started saying this is what we can do because I saw it. I saw it was the real deal."

Now, the Buffs are one win away from putting their name alongside an elite list of Colorado teams. A win over Oklahoma State in Thursday's Valero Alamo Bowl would be CU's 11th of the year, making these Buffs only the fourth team in CU history to hit that number.

A big part of their historic season has been that team meeting in May.

"We had to either come together or we were going to fall apart," said Buffs cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. "I remember (defensive lineman) Jordan Carrell, whose dad had just passed, getting up and stressing that it was time for us refocus our goals. It was a great turning point. We got a lot done in that meeting and in the next couple of weeks you could kind of see everything change. We just kept going … and now we're here."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu