Locking up recruits on national signing day has been head coach Karl Dorrell’s main priority since the Colorado football season came to a close last month.
On Wednesday, he did that by signing 19 players.
He’s nearly done with the other main priority, too.
Dorrell said he is “really close” to hiring a new offensive coordinator to replace Darrin Chiaverini, who was fired after the Nov. 26 season finale at Utah.
Dorrell said he has settled on three candidates and that he’s conducted Zoom and in-person interviews.
“I feel very good about where we’re at in that process right now,” he said.
CU has been tight-lipped throughout the search and the finalists are unknown publicly, but Dorrell did say he will hire someone currently with a college program. He cited his time as UCLA’s head coach when the Bruins lost six of nine assistants one offseason to the NFL.
“I’ve learned through that process of really if there’s guys with NFL aspirations, that’s not the way to go,” he said. “So I am staying in the college realm (with the search); guys that have been in college for the bulk of their careers and that are still in college just because of that experience I went through.”
Dorrell is confident in his ability to make the right hire, as he referenced the talented staff he had at UCLA.
“I do hire good coaches,” he said. “I’m not saying that to be arrogant about it, but I put a lot of research into people.”
CU had one of the worst offenses in the country this season. The Buffs ranked 129th out of 130 teams in yards per game, with 257.6 – the worst number for a CU team since 1964 and the worst for any Power 5 program since 2014. They were also 121st in scoring, at 18.8 points per game.
Dorrell is confident that will change as he and the next coordinator strive for balance in the offense.
“I feel that the people that know me and the offensive football that usually has been generated from me, whether as a coordinator or being part of offenses that I’ve worked in before, it’s going to be prolific,” he said. “It’s going to have the ability to be really good in the pass game, and also be foundationally set by being balanced and running the football as well. Both of those facets are really important. That’s important in the process when I’m interviewing these candidates.”
Dorrell said he wants to throw the ball 30-35 times a game and run the ball 25-30 times.
“I want balance and I think we’ve got some really good guys out there that have been very productive in their current offenses that are up for this job,” he said. “And they are very intriguing and I’m excited about it as we continue through this process.”
Roster attrition
Dorrell confirmed Wednesday that two veteran offensive linemen won’t return next year.
Starting center Colby Pursell could have played one more season, but is choosing to focus on graduate school. Backup Max Wray, who came to CU as a transfer from Ohio State last summer, has had some neck issues and will not continue to play, either.
CU also has a pair of backup safeties that are moving on. Ray Robinson has graduated and won’t return. Curtis Appleton also has his degree and one more year to play, but he put his name into the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday.
Notes
Going into Wednesday, inside linebacker Kenny Soares, from Avon, Conn., was one of the highest-rated commits on CU’s board. He committed to CU on Aug. 7. According to a source, however, Soares got a scholarship offer from Northwestern late on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Soares flipped from CU and signed with the Wildcats. … CU’s class already includes eight players from Texas. That is the most CU has signed from the Lone Star State since Gary Barnett signed eight in 2003. … This class also includes three players from Georgia, the most ever signed by CU in one class. … To this point, CU has not signed any junior college players. Since 1996, CU has had only one class that didn’t have any JUCO players, in 2012.
