Buffs' Laguda Steps Into Leadership Role; Fisher Ready To Build On Last Season
August 01, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado senior safety Afolabi Laguda remembers the leadership and guidance he received from his upperclassmen teammates when he arrived in the spring of 2015.
It was then that Laguda began learning about head coach Mike MacIntyre's emphasis on the details — the little things that make a big difference.
"They got on me for the smaller things," Laguda said. "How to pay attention on the sidelines, how to run on and off the field. It got to the point that I was saying, ''Are you serious? My shoe's untied?'
"But I learned it's the little things. If my shoe was untied, I had to take time out of practice to tie my shoe. That's time I could have learned something. It's the little details. The more you concentrate on the little things, the more they start to accumulate and help out the bigger things. That's we're trying to do."
Laguda, the only returning Buffs defender to start all 14 games last season, is now doing his best to impart that wisdom that was passed on to him in his role as a team captain. Long someone who led by example, he's become a vocal leader, a role that has become obvious this camp as the Buffs head into the dog days of August.
"Sharing the knowledge, passing the baton," Laguda said. "After these six months — seven months if we go to the Rose Bowl, hopefully — I'm going to have to pass that baton and I want to leave a great legacy. I want those guys to speak of me in the high manner like we speak of the guys that just left."
Laguda is coming off an outstanding 2016 season at free safety, where he played alongside strong safety Tedric Thompson. He finished with 80 tackles (second high on the team) while also recording three third-down stops, six pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.
This year, he'll likely be playing alongside junior Nick Fisher and Ryan Moeller. Moeller, who started the season last year at safety, also plays the Buff back spot, a combination safety/linebacker position. Fisher got some quality time late in the season when he stepped in for Laguda against Washington State last year and earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts, and has been working regularly with the No. 1 defense thus far in camp.
"Fish is definitely an athlete," Laguda said. "He's well-rounded out there, he has good mental capacity. I think Fish is going to get the job done at a high level."
Fisher has had a good camp thus far, but admits there's plenty of work to be done. One big difference from last year to this is the added confidence he received from his extensive playing time against Washington State, a game in which had six tackles (all solo), with three third-down stops, a fourth-down stop and one pass breakup. The fourth-down stop was a game changer, as it came at CU's 15-yard line with the Cougars trailing 28-24 in the fourth quarter and attempting to drive in for the go-ahead touchdown.
"It was very important last year to get that live action and know that I could actually play at this level," Fisher said. "Not to say I'm there yet, because I have a long ways to go, but just to see that I could do some things right. It was definitely a confidence boost."
Fisher came to CU as a cornerback, but made the switch to safety in the spring 2016.
"I love it," he said. "I can't thank whoever moved me enough. All I know is last spring they came to me and said, 'You're playing safety.' I didn't know how I felt about it at the time, but now I love it. There's so much freedom, so many chances to make plays — I love it."
Now, Laguda and Fisher are part of a secondary that has something to prove. CU lost three starting defensive backs last year to the NFL Draft, and the conventional wisdom is that it will take the CU secondary some time to bounce back.
"I think we're looking good right now," Laguda said. "We're definitely getting the ball rolling. I thought our guys are starting to click, starting to strain, we're starting to see what it takes. We still have a long way to go but that's the good thing about camp. Football continues. When guys start to not make the same mistakes daily, that's when you start to get better. We'll see how it all comes down on Sept. 1 (the season opener against Colorado State)."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.eu
