CU Buffs bring energy to first day of preseason football practice

PUBLISHED August 2, 2023 at 4:38 p. m. | UPDATED: August 2, 2023 at 7:55 p.

m. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is all smiles as the Buffaloes kicked off preseason football practices on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, at the indoor practice facility in Boulder, Colo.

(University of Colorado Athletics) Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is all smiles as the Buffaloes kicked off preseason football practices on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, at the indoor practice facility in Boulder, Colo. (University of Colorado Athletics) On the first day of preseason camp Wednesday, the Colorado Buffaloes didn’t spend a lot of time on the field, but head coach Deion Sanders wanted to make sure it was quality time.

In Sanders’ pre-practice speech, posted on YouTube by Well Off Media, he told the team, “We’re only out here an hour. … I want an hour full speed. Full speed! Every darn thing you’ve got!” The practice was closed to the media, but defensive coordinator Charles Kelly said there was definite excitement as the Buffs officially opened camp.

“Good to be back out,” Kelly said. “First day of fall camp is an exciting day for everybody because it’s the first day and our guys have worked hard all summer long. This is actually where we start preparing, but very obvious we’ve got a long way to go before we’re a good football team.

We’ve got to learn. “I know defensively, we’ve got to learn how to play. There’s a style and the standard of how we’re going to play and that’s what fall camp does; you find out who can meet that standard and who can stay at that standard.

It’s one thing to be excited the first day; everybody’s excited the first day of camp, but can you maintain that intensity and do the things that it takes to be successful?” The Buffs were in helmets and shells for the first day. They had most of the previous week off and Kelly said there was a difference in those who made the most of the week. “The rules are a little bit different now than it used to be so it’s not like they have all summer off,” Kelly said.

“They’re here pretty much all summer for summer workouts and we’ve had four or five days off. It’s obvious the guys that it meant something to go back; they did stuff while they had a few days off. And, there were some guys that didn’t do anything; they relied on what we did in summer.

You find out how important it is. That’s what this is all about. ” Kelly reiterated the standard that Sanders brought to the Buffs when he was hired in December.

CU wants players who are fast, tough, smart and disciplined, with character. “That’s what the standard is and that’s what we’re looking for: guys that meet those traits,” Kelly said. “If you play with those traits, then you can live with the results because winning is a result of a process.

You have to go through things to be able to get that result and that’s what we’re doing. But those are the kind of intangibles that we’re looking for and that’s what we want our fans to see. ” In the early going of camp, there could be some expected bumps in the road.

Of the 117 players on the roster, 59 arrived this summer and Wednesday was their first official practice as Buffs. Still, Kelly said the standard would remain the same for all players. “I think when you start setting a standard, there’s not an age limit on standard,” he said.

“When you start lowering the standard, that’s when you get average or below average. I don’t think there’s an age limit on it. Now coaches, maybe we have to go to other measures to make sure guys realize what that standard is; that’s our job.

That’s why we coach. If we didn’t have to do that they wouldn’t need us. ” As for Sanders, he was seen on YouTube videos moving around practice on a Segway because he recently had surgery on his left foot.

The Buffs spent part of practice doing positional drills and Sanders spent some time coaching the cornerbacks. “Coach had some medical procedures but you would have never known that talking to him,” Kelly said. “Every time I talked to him, it was about what we’ve got to do to be better, what we’ve got to do to take the next step.

He’s always thinking about other people instead of himself. That’s the neat thing about coach. I mean, it’s always about somebody else.

It’s always about helping somebody else. Even when he was having those procedures, that’s what he was doing. ” .