CU At The Game Podcast Stuart Whitehair

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

Welcome to our May Mailbag edition. I am joined for this episode by Brad Geiger, and we go through your questions about college football in general, and your Colorado Buffaloes in particular.

Included in this mailbag episode ...

- An article in The Athletic took Coach Prime and CU to task for dismantling the roster they inherited, quoting unhappy players who left the program. But looking at where the castoffs landed, can an argument be made that Colorado did what was necessary, considering the status of the roster?;

- Even if the roster moves were justified, should Coach Prime and Shedeur Sanders have keep quiet, instead of instigating a firestorm on social media?;

- At every opportunity, Coach Prime indicates that he loves CU and Boulder, and has no intentions of leaving after the 2024 season. Are you convinced Deion Sanders will be CU’s head coach in 2025?;

- What are your feelings about the current state of the roster? Did CU fill the holes in the lineup along the offensive and defensive lines, and at linebacker?;

- If the House case will take some $2.7 billion dollars to settle, will CU be able to one of the programs able to withstand the financial burden of remaining in the top tier of college football?; and 

- (A really good question, when you stop to think about it) ... If you had the choice between being a fan of a perennial contender (e.g., Ohio State; Georgia) or a team which is usually average, but occasionally jumps into the national spotlight (e.g., CU in 2016; TCU in 2022), which program would you choose to support? 

Let’s find out ... 

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

Welcome to our Spring Game recap. I am joined for this episode by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland, and we are here to discuss all that transpired on a soggy Folsom Field on Saturday.

We will first turn our attention to each unit on the team, and how they fared in the glorified scrimmage, before turning our attention to which units are most in need of bolstering over the next few weeks as the Transfer Portal shifts from the out-go to the in-come. We finish our discussion by taking a look at what Buff fans can expect in the next few weeks and months as Spring, 2024, shifts to issues for the summer of 2024. 

So ... Do we know anymore about the backups at quarterback to Shedeur Sanders? ... Is the completely rebuilt offensive line a significant upgrade to the porous 2023 model? ... Or, is there still plenty of work to be done before CU has a Big 12 quality offensive line? ... Will Coach Prime and his coaching staff be able to piece together a solid running back room? ... Or, will this unit be a liability come fall? ... Is the Buff defense ready for Prime Time? ... Or, are there still holes to be filled on the defensive roster between now and August 29th? 

Let’s find out ... 

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

Spring has arrived on the calendar, as well as on the practice fields at the University of Colorado. I am joined for this episode by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland, and we are here to discuss the ins and outs of CU football this April.

[Program Note ... During the off-season, a new episode of the podcast is posted every other Friday. In two weeks, however, CU will be conducting its Spring Game. As a result, we will be waiting a extra few days to post. The Spring Game recap podcast will be up on the CU at the Game website on Sunday, April 28th, and available at your favorite podcast sites on Monday, April 29th].

While your Buffs have been engaged in the first few weeks of spring practices, Coach Prime has added three new players to the Recruiting Class of 2024. CU is bringing in two new cornerbacks and a very, very under-the-radar offensive lineman, coming to Boulder from the NFL Academy in England ... by way of Austria and Egypt.

CU has also added new two members to its coaching staff. Both have NFL experience and ties to Coach Prime, but it’s the hiring of graduate assistant Warren Sapp which has created - at least in the mind of one local sportswriter - controversy in his hiring.

Not willing to leave news on the field alone, we also discuss what news of note we have been able to filter out through the process stories which are all too commonplace this time of year.

So ... Is Coach Prime to be praised for bringing in freshman recruits to develop - after being criticized for not doing so on Signing Day? Or ... Are these potentially wasted scholarships with the Transfer Portal about to reopen? ... Is the hiring of Warren Sapp a coup, with CU’s defensive line benefitting from the experience of a Hall-of-Famer? Or ... Is the hire a disaster in the making from a former player who has a history of legal issues - and no coaching experience? ... And ... Are the stories we are hearing about promising true freshman a sign of how much depth is being developed on the roster? Or ... Are stories about freshmen doing well a sign that the Buff Nation may be disappointed this fall with yet another rebuilding season? 

Let’s find out ... 

Greetings, Buff fans, from CU at the Game!

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

March was a kind month to the University of Colorado, with the CU ski team winning its 21st national championship, and the CU men’s and women’s basketball teams both earning NCAA tournament berths for the first time since 2013. The CU football team, not to be outdone, opened its second set of spring practices under Coach Prime, earning some national headlines of their own. 

I am joined for this podcast by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland, and we begin by taking a look at some of the national stories surrounding Coach Prime this spring, including his book tour, the national story about his not taking off-campus visits to the homes of potential recruits, and his weighing in his players and the NFL Draft. 

We then shift back to campus and CU’s spring practices, with a review of the comments made by Coach Prime, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, and defensive coordinator Robert Livingston.

We next discuss whether CU fans should be raving about men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle’s accomplishments ... or whether this season is further proof that the Buffs under Boyle have a glass ceiling of success. We finish up with a tribute to the remarkable tournament run made by the CU women’s team after a rough end to their regular season.

It’s always great to be a Buff, but even more so this spring. But ... is this as good as it gets for CU fans, or are there even greater achievements ahead?

Let’s find out ... 

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

I am joined for this episode by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland, and we would like to officially welcome you to CU Spring Football, 2024! With our most recent episode, we took a deep dive into each unit of the Colorado offense, so today we turn our attention to the Buffs’ defense and special teams. 

There will be plenty of fluff pieces on the progress the team is making during its closed practices. So, with these preview episodes we try to identify the storylines which are going to truly be worth your time to click on, and which stories are just column fillers with stories promoted from within the Champions Center. 

Colorado has a new defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston, who comes to Boulder by way of the Cincinnati Bengals. It seems clear that Livingston was not Coach Prime’s first choice to replace Charles Kelly at defensive coordinator, but will Livingston be the right choice? 

And what does Livingston have to work with? ... Has enough new talent been brought in along the defensive line to improve on CU’s rush defense, ranked 107th in the nation in 2023? ... Is it clear that the linebacker roster will still have to be a priority for Colorado in the Transfer Portal come late April? ... Are the pieces in place for the Buff secondary to become a dominant force, or will the CU defense, 124th in pass defense and 127th in total defense last season, continue to lag behind its Power Four brethren? ... 

Let’s find out ... 

This is Stuart Whitehair, publisher and editor for the CU at the Game website, and your host for the CU at the Game podcast.

Welcome to March! The turning of the calendar means we are once again in a month with Colorado football, with spring practices beginning March 18th, carrying through to the Spring Game on April 27th.

I am joined for this episode by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland. We open with a brief update on the decline of the NCAA and college football as we know it, perhaps summed up best as: “The only parties who have the power to put an end to the current chaos are the ones who are benefitting the most from the chaos”. 

We then turn our full attention to your Buffs and to stories we expect to see from the offensive side of the ball this spring. 

There will be plenty of fluff pieces on the progress the team is making during its closed practices. So, with this episode we try to identify the headlines which are going to truly be worth your time to click on, and which stories are just column fillers which are being spoon fed to the media.

Which stories are which? What should CU fans be looking for when there is a story about the battle for the top running back and wide receiver positions? Is the battle for the backup quarterback position going to be settled this spring? Are there going to be any stories about the offensive line development which are not going to be must-read? 

Let’s find out ...