Mike Bobo, loved by players, the right coach for Colorado State

 

College football coaching sounds like fun, but it’s a ton of work.

Especially when you’re a first-year head coach, like Mike Bobo of Colorado State, who’s weathered the storm and the bumpy road to begin his coaching tenure in Fort Collins.

After blowing out Savannah State in Week 1, the Rams stumbled, losing two straight to Minnesota and Colorado, each in overtime. They bounced back, beat UTSA on the road in a shootout before being beaten by Utah State in Logan, Utah and then were blown out by Boise State at home. At 2-4, 0-2 in the Mountain West, things looked bleak for Bobo and the Rams. But, the former quarterback and offensive coordinator out of Georgia knew to stick to his guns, to stay the path and winning would come.

“I felt good, even when we were 2-4,” Bobo explained on Tuesday after practice. “About where we were going and having a chance to win on Saturday, which we did. I kind of just approach it every day as a position coach. But at the same time I’m a little bit more patient. I give a lot more encouraging words than I used to.

“No, it wasn’t (pleasant),” Bobo continued of being 2-4. “Anytime you lose in anything you do it hurts. Me, I want to immediately get back out there, ‘What do we gotta do to fix it?’ To me, it’s always ‘You gotta go back to work. You gotta work harder.’ And that’s kind of what I’ve been trying to stress. And I do believe they believe that. Do they want to have a better record? Yeah, but we don’t. As a competitor, you’ve got to love the opportunity to compete. Let’s go try to win.”

By staying the course, Bobo led his Rams to convincing 38-23 win over in-state rival Air Force last Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd on Homecoming. That win was massive for multiple reasons: It was only CSU’s second victory in a decade over the Falcons, it represented the Rams first MW win of the year, it occurred in front of a sellout and a victory always feels good before the bye week.

Now, at 3-4, Colorado State feels much better about their current situation. They battled tough, fought through the hardest part of their schedule and are positive they will turn things around in a hurry. Joe Hansley touched on that, Tuesday.

Hansley and fellow senior SteveO Michel also spoke with great admiration for Bobo Tuesday.

“I had a feeling for him as soon as he touched down,” redshirt linebacker SteveO Michel began. “I think he’s a genuine, loving person and he likes to compete. That’s the nature of him. You always want to have the leader of the ship, you want a competitor. That’s what he is and it kind of brushes off on us because we like to compete. He’s built a relationship with us throughout the time he’s been here, so you want to go out and play for him.”

“I think I have a good feel for him,” Hansley said. “He does a great job of creating good relationships with his players. He’ll have us over to the house, we’ve gone over there for dinner, at least the seniors have. He does a good job of actually interacting with us, talking to us off the field. Even on the field, during practice if we have a little break, he sits there and chops it up with you.

“I think the whole team has a good relationship with Coach Bobo,” Hansley finished.

One way he’s been able to build that relationship is by letting lose with the team. Following the Rams 38-23 victory over Air Force last Saturday, Bobo was roped into ‘dancing’ with the team.

“I said ‘No’ about five times, they were able to pull me in there,” Coach said Tuesday. “But I kind of jumped around, acted like I know how to dance.

“They were kind of doing their dancing when I walked in and having a good time,” Bobo continued. “And then we kind of calmed them down and I said, ‘Before I start talking again I want to see y’all dance some more.’ Because, I think that’s the greatest thing is a locker room after a game after a win. You’ve got to enjoy the win.”

“Joe Parker our AD said, ‘You want to pause to celebrate when good things happen,’” Bobo explained. “So, that was a pause to celebrate and let them see a different side of coaches. We’re excited when good things happen and now we’ve got to get back to work.”

What did the players think of his dancing?

“I was just thinking, man, this is really a family. You can be yourself,” Michel explained. “One thing about Coach Bobo, yes he’s the head coach – everybody in the entire country knows he’s the head coach of Colorado State – but, he still shows that same level of respect. We’re still at the same level. He doesn’t talk like, ‘I’m the head coach, I’m the boss.’”

Hansley, though, wasn’t kind on Bobo’s dancing “skills.”

“He’s not the best dancer,” Hansley said jokingly. “It was a weak effort. I’ll give him his props but, it was a weak effort. I’ll have to get him on that.”

Still, even though his dance skills didn’t impress, these are high words of praise from two seniors who have seen the team come from down in the dumps to a back-to-back bowl competitor. They’ve witnessed working with two different coaching staffs and, while they didn’t talk badly about the previous regime, it seems they’re loving the current coaches.

Where can CSU go the rest of this season? As far as Bobo can take them. Which, if we judge through the glimpses of greatness we’ve witnessed to this point, it could be back to third straight bowl game. The offense is finally starting to catch on and the defense has played better than people expected for most of the season.

And no matter where the Rams end up this year, Bobo is proving he’s the right coach for Colorado State. You never get the feeling he thinks he’s too good for the position or the school. Beyond that, Bobo possesses an intelligent football mind, he truly cares and respects his players, he’s straightforward with the media and he’s committed to excellence.

Welcome to Fort Collins, Mike Bobo, we hope you stay for a long, long time.