Great expectations

A few months from now in June when most students will leave campus for home, a group of about 22 select students will just be arriving.

But they’re not just coming to enroll in summer courses; they’re coming for the beginning of summer football practices. The now high school seniors of CU’s 2010 football recruiting class will be enrolling in the Dan Hawkins School of Two-a-Days.

There aren’t exactly great expectations from the class that was ranked 66th by recruiting Web site Rivals.com. However, Coach Hawkins called this the “most athletic class” he’s brought to Boulder.

Either way, their success in the next few years is important if Hawkins wants to pour water on his hot seat.

One of the players Hawkins brought in for help is coming all the way from Hawaii.

Offensive guard Kaiwi’ Crabb from Honolulu (Hawaii) said he knows what it’s going to take to get the Buffs back on top.

“It’s going to take a combination of determination and discipline,” Crabb said. “Also just being aggressive toward those bigger schools like Texas and Nebraska and winning all the games we should be winning.”

Last year’s 3-9 season was scarred by losses in such games where CU was the favorite. The Buffs lost to CSU in Boulder for the first time since 1986 and dropped a road game to a heavy underdog MAC team among others.

Tight end Henley Griffon of Apopka, Fla., acknowledged that team development is a work in progress.

“I know we’re a really young team right now,” Griffon said. “I know later on in the future we’ll be real successful, but it’s going to take some time.”

The Buffs, who will return 17 starters next fall, are both blessed and cursed by their youth. Last year most of their key players like quarterback Tyler Hansen, running back Rodney Stewart, guard Ryan Miller and safety Anthony Perkins were all sophomores.

CU loses their only All-Big 12 performer from last year in tight end Riar Geer to graduation. The incoming class makes up for that and the graduation of two other tight ends by bringing in four potential freshman tight ends next year.

Justin Favors of Trotwood, Ohio, is a 6-foot-4, 230 pound tight end prospect who is looking to make waves right away.

“I think I bring a lot not just on offense, but on special teams or wherever they put me at,” Favors said. “But I think I can be a real good asset, even if I don’t start I can help the team.”

Another incoming freshman looking to help the team in any way possible is offensive lineman Daniel Munyer of Notre Dame, Calif. Though he is coming into a position where all five starters return, there is a need for depth and competition.

“They said I’d most likely redshirt because that’s what most freshman offensive linemen do,” Munyer said. “But then again it just depends how I do in my camp.”

Once June camps begin, Boulder will be completely different from what it is now. The snow will be gone, replaced by a hot summer sun. For the first timers the summer practices and two-a-days will be far from anything they’ve ever seen in high school.

“I know regardless of what I do down here [to train] it’s going to be hard practicing in the altitude,” said defensive lineman Kirk Poston of Houston, Texas.

There are certain factors, like altitude, which make playing football at CU unique. Another potentially troubling aspect of suiting up in Boulder next fall for the incoming recruits is the question of their coach’s job security.

The general consensus among these players is not one of great concern, however. Most said that during their recruitment Hawkins confirmed that he’s not going anywhere.

“He said to not worry about it and that he’s going to be here,” said Tony Jones, running back from Ramsey, N.J. “But if [Hawkins’ firing] happens, it happens.”

These young players said they know that they signed their letters of intent to play for a school, not one man.

“I’m just going to do whatever the coaches tell me,” Munyer said. “Whatever they want me to do, I’m going to do it.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Michael Krumholtz at Michael.krumholtz@colorado.edu