Mel Tucker’s victory lap Saturday afternoon at Mile High was long on hugs. And short on time.
“When I leave here, we’ve got a dinner tonight, we’ve got several young men here this week,” Tucker, the new football coach of the Colorado Buffaloes and Cleveland native said before his old hometown team (the Browns) team took on his new one (the Broncos). “And we’re going to recruit all the way until the end. We’re going to fight for the guys we want. Hit the ground running. All gas, no brakes.”
To that end, Tucker confirmed his two coordinators earlier Saturday: former University of Minnesota offensive coordinator Jay Johnson will run CU’s offense, while former Colorado State defensive coordinator Tyson Summers will run the defense. Both Johnson, 49, and Summers, 38, were quality control assistants at Georgia this past fall. Tucker, whose long career includes a stint as a Browns assistant, had been the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator the past three seasons.
“Tyson’s going to call the plays,” Tucker said of the Buffs’ new defensive guru. “I trust him, and he’s an accomplished coach in his own right. And there’s no person I’d rather have coordinating our defense than Tyson.”
Summers ran primarily a 3-4 base the last time he had coordinator responsibilities, when he held the same position with Colorado State in 2015, coach Mike Bobo’s first season in Fort Collins. The Rams that season ranked 64th nationally in scoring defense (27.2 points allowed per game) and 105th in total takeaways (15).
Johnson’s last run as an FBS coordinator came as the play-caller for a 9-4 Gophers squad in 2016. Under Johnson’s guidance that fall, Minnesota ran largely out of the pistol or conventional shotgun, finishing 12th among Big Ten programs in team passer rating (114.72) and fifth in rushing yards per game (183.6).
“We’re going to have balance on offense,” Tucker said. “The object is to do what your personnel does best. And, obviously, (Johnson) understands matchups, which is a big part of what you have to do at the pro level and also at the college level.”
CU also announced Saturday that receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, inside linebackers coach Ross Els and running backs coach Darian Hagan would be retained from former coach Mike MacIntyre’s staff.
“When you go into a situation, my experience has been (that) it’s not all bad,” Tucker said. “Our roster, our cupboard, is not bare.”
Tucker said he could neither “confirm or deny” reports that former North Carolina offensive coordinator Chris Kapilovic would be joining the Buffs as offensive line coach, but stressed that he’s “going to take my time” filling out the rest of the staff.
“Obviously, we’ve got the coordinator in place, and the guys we’ve decided to retain, we’ve got them,” Tucker said. “And so we just want to make sure we get the right fit and we’ve got flexibility in our staff in terms of tight ends, special teams, outside linebacker, and things like that … every single hire is critical.”
