It probably won’t happen this year.
And it might not happen next year.
But something tells me Steve Fairchild is going to get Colorado State back into the upper echelon of the Mountain West Conference. And probably sooner rather than later.
Just a gut feeling. I like the second-year coach’s no-nonsense attitude. I like his commitment to an offense based around a power running game (when 90 percent of the teams in college football – or so it seems – are moving to spread offenses). I like how much the Rams improved – and overachieved – in going 7-6 a season ago. And I like the history in Fort Collins – wasn’t so long ago the Rams dominated league play.
“Last season was kind of a nice, little – in a sense – righting the ship for our program,” Fairchild said Tuesday at the Mountain West Conference media days in Las Vegas. “It’s still our aim at Colorado State to get our football program back to being one of the elite teams in the Mountain West – being a team much like Utah has (been) to compete year in and year out for the conference championship. We’re not there yet by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re headed in the right direction, and I think we’ve got a good mindset for our football team. So the ‘09 season will be a very, very good barometer for how far we’ve come.”
As someone who grew up on the Redskins teams of the 1980s (when The Hogs became the most famous – or at least most recognized – offensive line in the game’s history), I still believe that football games – despite the rise of fancy, high-flying offenses – are won up front. And Colorado State is good up front.
The Rams return all five of their 2008 offensive line starters, and those players have combined to start 125 games – the most of any unit in the country heading into the 2009 season.
If the Rams have a breakout 2009, the line likely will have had a lot to do with it.
If the Rams don’t have a breakout 2009, look for such a season not too far down the line.
“I took this job with a long-term goal in mind,” Fairchild said. “And 18 months ago when I took this job I saw very clearly where we were, and I know very clearly where we want to get to. Now that road is not going to be smooth. We’re going to have some ups and downs along the way. We’ll just have to keep to our plan. This season is very important for us, but it’s not the end all. At some point, we’re going to get Colorado State football back where it belongs. This season is just another chance to take a step in the right direction.”
I would love to see CSU start kicking CU’s tail on a regular basis. If CSU returns to their former level, AFA continues on its path, and SDSU gets its act together, the MWC could have 6 teams in the Top 40 or 50.
As a Wyoming alum, I find this prospect to be alarming and depressing.
Jeff –
If it’s any solace, I think Wyoming got the right guy in new head coach Dave Christensen. He seems like a great fit — a hard-nosed, no-nonsense guy who will put the ‘tough’ back into ‘Cowboy Tough.’
I loved the response he had to a reporter who asked what he thought of the Cowboys being picked to finish ninth (out of nine teams) in the Mountain West Conference preseason media poll.
“That’s where I would vote us too – we haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “Credibility and respect is something you earn on the field, and we haven’t done anything yet. … If you want respect, you go out and earn respect. It’s not something that’s given to you.”
Wyoming should earn some respect with its defense this year. The question will be how long it takes for Christensen (who came from Mizzou) to get the offense going.
Jake, with respect to your statement that it wasn’t long ago that CSU dominated league play, I would suggest that since it has been in a conference, Air Force has been more of factor than CSU. CSU really only had that period of which you speak when it competed for the top spot for a few consecutive years. In the 80′s and 90′s, it usually came down to Air Force and BYU. CSU was not really a factor except for that short period under Lubick to which you refer. However, I do agree that CSU will improve under Fairchild. Air Force is 27-19-1 against CSU.
afafan -
I think you’re right about SDSU. Air Force coach Troy Calhoun considers the Aztecs a sleeping giant. Always so much talent on their roster, just haven’t been able to translate it to real results. Brady Hoke is trying to instill toughness in his team. The two SDSU players at media day said as much. Hoke seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy (much like Christensen at Wyo).