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PAC-12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 25, 2018

Mike MacIntyre

Hollywood, California

MIKE MACINTYRE: Today we have Steven Montez with us, our quarterback, and Rick Gamboa, our linebacker. I know y'all know where they are, but they're two great young men for us, and have made a lot of plays for us at CU, and excited they're here for today.

So at this time, we'll take any questions you have. Thank you.

Q. Biggest concerns going into fall camp?
MIKE MACINTYRE: There's always a bunch of concerns. Yeah, we're excited about some of the young guys that we have on our defensive line and our offensive line. I feel like they're very athletic, so we need to keep them coming along, so I feel we'll be more athletic in those two areas than we have been in the past.

We'll just be a little bit younger, so making those two areas come along quick would be a good deal for us.

Q. Who are some guys that didn't play last year or weren't on the team that seem to be making an impact this year?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Some guys that did not play last year that red-shirted, a couple guys that we're looking forward to defense, a young man named Terrance Lang, a defensive lineman. Another young man named Chris Miller that plays corner. Offensively, Will Sherman, who plays offensive guard for us, and Colby Pursell who plays center, those are guys that were on our football team that we red-shirted last year that will see a lot of time this year.

Q. Did you find that there's not much difference between being in first place in 2016 and last place last year in terms of how close the games are?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, it's a lot more fun to be in first place than down where we were. It all goes back to winning the close games. You hear coaches talk about that all the time. We lost a lot of good players the year before, and so we played some guys out there that were a little bit newer. We just didn't quite make enough situational plays in some games.

Flip a couple of those, which is what we hope to do this year, and believe we can, we have a lot of experience in the areas that make that happen -- quarterback, our kicking game. Our punter's back, our kicker's back, our kickoff guy is back, our long snapper. Those guys make strategic changes in field position, make a winning field goal, team has momentum. They kick it out of the end zone on a kickoff.

So those things are small factors that end up being big factors in close games, so excited about those guys making those plays in those situations.

Q. Did spring ball give you any idea on how to fill some holes on the offensive line?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, spring ball did give us a lot of things. Jake Moretti is a young man that came along this spring. He's getting healthier. Will Sherman, Colby Pursell on the offensive line. You mentioned Phillip Lindsay, he's practicing with the Broncos right now, and he'll do well for them.

We have some good running backs that we're excited about, and Kyle Evans, who played a lot the year before and then hurt his hip, he had a great spring. Alex Fontenot is a freshman that we red-shirted who is big and powerful, about 210. And Travon McMillan, who wasn't in in the spring, he came in in May. He's been there. Good-looking tailback that transferred in, graduate transfer from Virginia Tech that we're excited about too.

So we'll see what happens in fall camp and go from there.

Q. With other coaching changes in the South, do you feel like stability is in your favor?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, there are some good coaches that came into the South. There were some good coaches that left the South. So I think we've always had excellent coaches in our league. It's a league that coaches aspire to be to, so the guys that get there have experience and have had a lot in their pedigree, so to speak.

So I think that hopefully sometimes a first year for a coaching staff and a team is a little bit rougher. So I'm hoping that happens on some of those teams. But they've got good players and excellent coaches, so I know they'll all be ready to play.

Q. How about the annual question with Utah becoming a bit of a rivalry now?
MIKE MACINTYRE: We were fortunate enough to beat them a year ago, and last year they beat us pretty good. Whoever won the game was going to go to a bowl game.

So even though I don't think either one of us would say we're where we'd like to be from the year before, we're both playing for the championship. So Kyle does an unbelievable job there, and, you know, it is becoming a bigger and bigger game because the last two years we both played for something.

In the past we weren't playing for anything, so I think we've added to make it a little bit more of a rival-type game.

This year it's different, though. They've moved it because they're playing BYU, so it's kind of changed that a little bit. But it's still an exciting game, and they're a very good football team.

Q. You've got your quarterback coming back?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yes, Steven Montez is coming back. He had a really good year last year. He was just barely under 3,000 yards passing. Had the most consecutive passes in a row in Colorado football history without an interception. Done a lot of great things for us. He played well enough, definitely well enough for us to be better than 5-7, and I believe the teams catching up with him, and he's got more experience and understands the grind of the season and taking the brunt of everything. I think he'll have a special year.

Q. What does Montez need to do to take it to the next level?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Well, he's been doing it. He's gotten himself -- he keeps getting in better and better shape and understanding the necessity of that. But the thing he's improved on, and I said it today, he's gone from algebra to calculus in understanding how to prepare for a game, his film study and all the things he's doing. He's been around the office all summer, watching tape, working on it, studying it.

And Kurt Roper, our new quarterback coach, has done a great job with him. Kurt worked under David Cutcliffe and tutored Eli and a bunch of other pro quarterbacks. I think that he's taken the heat that Kurt's teaching him.

Q. When you talk about Pac-12 quarterbacks, talking about Jake Browning, Justin Herbert, Khalil Tate, people tend to forget about Steven. Is that a motivating factor for him?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Well, there are great quarterbacks in this league, and great quarterbacks every year. Last year there were a few other names, right? So I definitely feel like Steven has the ability to do it, and hopefully he definitely will. When he does, it all goes back to us winning enough games to get his notoriety, and when we do that, he'll get his time in the sun, so to speak.

But all of those quarterbacks that you mentioned in our league are excellent. I feel like he's capable of being that same type of guy.

Q. Question about the CSU game, do you like that being played in Denver and what is the status going forward because there was some talk about playing at it on campus?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Right, the CSU game is always -- the Rocky Mountain Showdown is always a big deal in the state of Colorado. Playing there in Bronco Stadium, I think either school would like to have it on their home campus, of course, but playing in the Bronco Stadium, our kids love it. I think both teams kids absolutely love it, more than maybe some of the fans do. I think a lot of the fans like it.

It's interesting. The student bodies for both teams -- I mean, there are so many students there, so it's a nice environment for a game, and kids like playing in the pro stadium. I don't know what it carries after 2020, and I guess the ADs and all of them will work all of that out. But right now it's a fun game to play in there in Denver.

Q. Do you get Nebraska back at your place next year?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yes, that's a home at home, and I think they come back sometime in the early '20s again.

Q. One of your younger guys, Colby Pursell, how is his work ethic helping him to get closer to a starting spot?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, Colby Pursell's work ethic, only word I can use is phenomenal. He's strong, he's athletic. I don't think he's made a B yet, but he's a high 3s in school.

He's a special young man. He's our starting center right now. So hopefully he does well in fall camp and keeps that, because to me he's an excellent player and can do a lot of things for us and really help us.

Q. And he can squat a lot.
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, he squats. I mean, he really works at it. He's one of those guys that always carries a jug of water around with him. Always hydrating, always eating properly. I'm really excited about -- I'm trying to temper my excitement, but he's an excellent player and hasn't even played a college snap yet in a real game.

But in practice what he's shown, he was a unique individual when we were recruiting Colby, he was only 16 years old as a senior in high school, and he wouldn't turn 17 until end of September of his freshman year. So I'm sitting there with him, talking to his parents, and say, Mom, do you want him to go to college at 16? She says, Not really. So he did a gray shirt. He could have come in, but he gray shirted.

So he didn't come in, so he had all of January, all of summer, and then his fall last year he turned 18 in September, and now he's had a whole year. Now he's going to turn 19. So he's prime and ready to play, so excited about Colby.

Q. What did Jared Poplawski do for you in those first six games, and what do you think he can do when he's fully healthy?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, Jared Poplawski gives us a multiple tight end. He can play in the back field, he can split out, he runs excellent routes, he can catch the football. Jared really helped us in the first six games. We were going to use him some more. His knee is back, and he's doing really well. So you'll see us using him in multiple spots, and he's a multidimensional tight end. He's not just an end-liner or an H-back, he can do both.

Q. Can you talk about Kyle Whittingham and being the longest tenured coach in the Pac-12?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, Kyle is a phenomenal coach and really well respected in our profession. The thing that amazes me to Kyle is people come and go, and he keeps steady, keeps them winning.

I think it was really smart at Utah. He was there, and it kind of turned around and he was an assistant. They made him the head coach, and he's kept it at a level I don't think they've ever seen in this long a period for the history of the program.

You know, I kind of connect with Kyle a little bit because we're both coach's sons. He totally gets it and understands it. He's done a great job at Utah. We play him every year. I wish I didn't have to play him every year. I wish he was on the other side because he's an excellent coach.

Q. How did Brett Tonz transition from the defensive line to the offensive line?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, Brett Tonz, the transition has been excellent for him. This is a big fall camp. He's competing to start at guard. I think he's going to do really well for us this year. He's gotten a little bigger. Understands the offensive scheme. We had talked to Brett a year earlier about maybe going to O-line, and he wanted to go to D-line, and he walked in and said: O-line is a better fit for me.

So his whole heart and soul is into it. I look for Brett to make good strides for us this year. He's a very athletic offensive guard. So is Will Sherman and Colby Pursell. They're athletic guys. More athletic than we've had in the past in there. So I'm excited about watching those guys gel together.

Q. Getting that time on the defensive line at the college level, how do you think that's going to help Tonz?
MIKE MACINTYRE: He was a good enough athlete to do that. There were a lot of offensive linemen that couldn't play defensive line, so he's able to do that. He understands defensive schemes. He understands what the D-line men are trying to do in their lineup, and shade to the inside shade or outside shade or zero on him. So he has that intelligence factor that maybe an offensive lineman wouldn't have that didn't play defense.

Q. Unfortunately for you guys, Boulder was the site of Khalil Tate's coming out party last year. What stood out to you the most about his performance that night?
MIKE MACINTYRE: A nightmare. Thanks for reminding me of Khalil Tate's coming out party. One thing I learned, don't knock the first string quarterback back out.

No, Khalil Tate is fast and explosive. Has great vision. And he just kept making play after play. Very, very impressed with Khalil Tate and his athletic ability and his ability to play quarterback.

I remember him at J. Serra High School, and just a great player. That night he was exceptional, and we had a hard time tackling him. Hopefully we can tackle him better this year.

Q. Did it make you feel any better in a way when he started to do it against other people, too, and you realized it's not just us?
MIKE MACINTYRE: No, after I watched what he did, I knew he was going to do it against other people. The key is you started preparing just for him, and I think that caught up with him a little bit at the end of the year. But he's so talented. There are a lot things he can do, and I know he's probably excited about showing other aspects of his game this year.

Q. Do you remember going into that game how much you guys prepared for the possibility of Tate playing?
MIKE MACINTYRE: We didn't prepare much for him playing, because he hadn't been playing. Dawkins had played for the years. He had played just a little bit. We knew who he was. They didn't change much, he was just a different speed and different elusiveness in that football game.

Q. Did your team gain anything, do you think from that experience moving forward?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Oh, yeah, we definitely did. We had a lot of young guys on the field on defense. If that would have happened the year before, I think the kids out there would have adapted quicker because we had nine guys. Seven of them went to the NFL.

So I think they would have adapted a little quicker during the course of the game. He still would have made plays because he's just that kind of guy. But hopefully our guys have learned from that, and a lot of our same guys will be out there playing this year. So hopefully we'll be able to tackle him.

Q. Last year you sat up here and called your shot and said Isaiah Oliver was one of the best cornerbacks, if not the best cornerback. Went out, proved it. With the Falcons now. Is there anybody on the team, any secrets you want to share this year?
MIKE MACINTYRE: No, because I don't want anybody to go out early (laughing). Yeah, we have some young, talented corners. Couple junior college corners, too, that I think are talented.

So we'll see when they get out there. They haven't played much, but they're extremely talented.

Q. What did you think about Isaiah's progression?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, it was going really well. Got nicked up in the Washington State game and really didn't play very much at the end of the year. I know everybody keeps telling us we've got to replace him. We kind of had to replace him at the last part of the year last year so a lot of the guys this year had a lot of experience playing. Would we like to have had Isaiah out there the whole year? For sure. But I knew he'd be an elite corner in the NFL also, and he'll keep getting better and better.

Q. Your wristband, "Uncommon," what's that represent?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Uncommon is the wristband our players wear, and we want to be uncommon men. Don't take the easy way out. Don't take the shortcuts. Be uncommon in everything you do in life. So they wear that as a reminder on a daily basis.

Q. Talk about renewing the Nebraska series, what's that mean for your players, for your fans, for the Colorado community?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, it's very unique this year. I haven't heard of it before, so people can refresh me if it's true or not. But I don't know many teams that have played their two biggest traditional rivals the first two weeks of the season. I know they've played them somewhere in the first two seasons, but not the first two weeks.

So adding Nebraska back on the schedule is great for Colorado and for Nebraska. We're so close there. It's a driving game. So it will be exciting going to Nebraska. They're excellently coached, and they've got a lot of great players and a great following.

So I know our guys will be excited about it when that time comes.

Q. You mentioned playing Nebraska. You've got Air Force coming up, TCU and Minnesota added to the non-conference schedule. Is there a change in your scheduling philosophy?
MIKE MACINTYRE: We're trying to schedule a few more teams in Texas because we're recruiting so well in Texas on that side of it. Some of those were set, the Minnesota and all that was set a long, long time ago.

But the Texas schools is definitely on purpose, wanting to play them in our close location, and our recruiting base in Texas.

Q. Can you talk about Jaylon Jackson? He's been through so much. I don't think he's played football for three years, but how is he looking as you start fall camp? Is he a guy that can make an impact this year?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, Jaylon Jackson has had a couple different injuries senior year in high school, and now in his freshman year. He's looked good at the end of spring. The summer workouts, running and all the cutting he's been doing, he's doing really well.

So if he gets back out there and gets going like he can, he's an athletic young man that can help us and make plays and be able to help us on special teams, not only as maybe a returner but as a cover guy.

So I look forward to getting Jaylon out there and getting him on the field. One thing about Jaylon, he's got that big smile on his face no matter what he's going through. So he's an uplifting-type person around our building.

Q. Wanted to ask you about Jackson's attitude through everything?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Jaylon's attitude is incredible. I always tell the kids attitude determines altitude, and he shows that all the time.

Q. You guys are stacked at receiver. He's a receiver. Are there plans to keep him there?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, our plans are to keep Jaylon at receiver and keep him there. We do have some good receivers, but there are injuries that happen in football, different things happen. So we need all we can get. But I definitely see him we're going to put him in there to help us on special teams too.

Q. You've been able to recruit some really productive players in the state of Arizona, but at some times under-recruited, whether it's Isaiah or Jared or Brett. What is your philosophy when recruiting the state of Arizona in particular?
MIKE MACINTYRE: Yeah, the state of Arizona has a lot of talent in it, and the population growth is growing all the time there in the greater Phoenix area. We're looking for players we feel are Pac-12 football players and that want to maybe leave the state, because there are good schools to choose from in the state of Arizona, too, and that want to come to Colorado. So we've been able to find that niche with some of those guys.

Isaiah Oliver was a unique situation. He had no offers but us. He's a guy that bloomed late, and we kept recruiting him and kept looking at him. We were able to get him.

The other young men were recruited by a lot of different people too. But Isaiah was unique. We were the only people that recruited him in the country, which is amazing to me. But that sometimes happens.

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