Media Day Review: Here's what we learned from Steve Addazio as CSU prepares for its first scrimmage

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State held its annual Media on Tuesday. Here’s what we learned from head coach Steve Addazio as his team prepares for the first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.

Addazio is eager for full contact

The opportunities for the Rams to prepare for the season with full contact are limited. So with Saturday’s upcoming scrimmage, Addazio is looking forward to the opportunity to see his team play in one of the closest simulations to a real game that they will get this fall. 

“We’re going to tackle pretty substantially,” Addazio said. “Up to whatever the rules allow us to do now, because you only get two of what they call scrimmages.”

Addazio continued, emphasizing the importance of working in a little bit of full contact prior to the regular season opener. Obviously there are injury risks and Addazio admitted that it’s a bit frightening in that regard. They’ll do their best to prevent injuries as much as possible. But as Addazio explained, it’s kinda just part of the territory. 

“We’ve got to tackle. I mean, it’s tackle football,” Addazio said. “We’ve got some veterans on this team, but I mean as a program, we’ve got to go out there and tackle to win, when allowable. So that’s probably the biggest thing that I want to see.”

Saturday’s scrimmage will be officiated, so proper technique and penalty avoidance will be monitored and enforced on both sides of the football. 

“It’s always good in terms of reemphasizing holding penalties,” Addazio said. “So we’re going to have the officials there.”

Along with getting a chance to evaluate his players and hear the pads pop, Addazio is also just looking forward to letting the guys play a little football without the coaches in their faces the entire time. 

“I just love to just get the coaches off the field and let the players play and find out who can function without a coach,” Addazio said. 

He continued, explaining that during traditional practices there are coaches all over the field to correct a player’s form, stance, positioning, etc. But in a scrimmage it’s on the players to adjust in the moment, much like they would in a real game. 

“Get off the field, let them make their own decisions and let them establish what their offense, defense or special teams unit culture is going to be at that point in time,” Addazio said. “So I think that’s pretty important and pretty cool. Saturday is a big mark for us.”

The Rams will likely hold the second scrimmage one week later, on Saturday, Aug. 21. After that date, though, the amount of contact will be pretty limited for the Rams in the days leading up to the South Dakota State game. 

“At that point I don’t know how much hitting is going to be going on. There’s not going to be any tackling going on after that,” Addazio said. “We’ve got to be careful at that point.”

There are many schools of thought, but Addazio’s philosophy is that it’s best to go hard and be extremely physical for two weeks of training camp and then ramp things down as the regular season approaches to try and prevent injuries and/or strain. 

“With that comes an element of risk, but I feel like I’d rather take my chance and really get a strong look at our team and develop them. As opposed to getting surprised later.”

Regardless of anyone’s opinion on how physical training camp should be, it’s clear that Saturday’s scrimmage is extremely important for the Rams to see where they’re at as a team.

Here’s what else we learned from Addazio.

Transfers are adjusting well 

Addazio and the Rams benefited greatly from the transfer market in 2020. In addition to adding the team’s starting quarterback (Todd Centeio), the Rams were able to get solid production from former Miami defensive end Scott Patchan, who recorded a sack in all four games. 

CSU is hoping for a similar boost from transfers this fall. Centeio and Patchan are both still in the mix, but the Rams now have a retooled offensive line featuring additions from Temple and Boston College. David Bailey, CSU’s anticipated starting running back, and Matt Valecce (QB), came over from BC as well. The Rams also added a deep threat at wide receiver in New Mexico transfer Jordan Kress, and a potential starting cornerback in Linwood Crump (Temple). 

“We’ve used that market to really bolster and fortify our team in areas that we had some weaknesses and deficiencies, be it from injury, be it from recruiting, be it from whatever,” Addazio said. “So I think we’ve addressed those issues pretty well.”

Beyond the added production on the field the Rams are expecting to get from Bailey, Kress, etc., Addazio has been pleased with the positive impact the veterans have had on the culture of the program. 

“I thought that a lot of these guys really added to the culture of their individual rooms and to our team,” Addazio said. 

Addazio continued, explaining that he was really careful identifying the players he wanted to choose in the transfer market. There are obviously a lot of talented options, but the reality is that a lot of those guys also have serious baggage that can negatively impact a program. 

“I don’t have any patience for that. That’s not going to happen,” Addazio said, before explaining that all of the guys that were brought into the program either had a previously established relationship with him or one of the assistant coaches. And at the very least they were recommended by someone he knows well. 

“We didn’t randomly go out there and pluck guys to bring into our program, because we’re trying to build our program,” Addazio said. “So I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to plug with detrimental people.”

Ram fans will have their first opportunity to see the new faces in action when CSU hosts South Dakota State on Friday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MT and the game will be televised on FS1.