FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A lot has happened since Mike Bobo stepped down and took an offensive coordinator position with South Carolina.
Obviously, the biggest news was that Steve Addazio was hired, and has since been introduced as the new head football coach. And somewhat unexpectedly, with the regime change, a few players have decided to jump ship.
Freshman cornerback Caleb Blake was the first to announce he would be leaving CSU. He has not yet announced where his next landing spot will be but originally held offers from 11 Division 1 programs, including Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Central Florida.
Nouredin Nouili, a freshman guard who made seven starts for the Rams in 2019, will join Scott Frost’s program at Nebraska. Nouili is the second player this year to leave a scholarship at CSU for a walk-on opportunity with the Huskers. Redshirt freshman linebacker Zach Schlager did the same thing in the fall.
The latest player to announce they are leaving is last season’s starting left tackle, T.J. Storment. In a Twitter post, Storment stated that he believed in Bobo and Dave Johnson — and that due to administrative decisions made by the university, he no longer feels his vision is in line with CSU.
In the modern era of college football, there is more player movement than ever and the transfer portal has basically become the NCAA’s version of free agency. So regardless of whether a change would have been made or not, there likely would have been a few guys that decided to leave.
That said, losing a pair of starters from the offensive line is less than ideal for a team that already has to deal with a ton of change. Look for Addazio and his staff to potentially pursue some transfers to help sure up the depth in coming months.
While CSU fans were bummed to see multiple players elect not to be “Dudes”, there is hope for the future yet. With the early signing period coming up on December 18, the Rams picked up verbal commitments from a pair of local studs on Sunday.
First, running back Tanner Hollens pledged his allegiances to CSU. Hollens racked up 1,732 rushing yards on 184 carries (9.4 yards per carry) for Columbine High School in Littleton, CO., this fall. He also found the end zone 32 times (29 rushing) and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Colorado.
Prior to flipping to CSU, Hollens was committed to the University of Northern Colorado. Despite what some may think, though, it seems that the Bears hiring Ed McCaffrey does not change the fact that CSU is the more desirable NoCo football program.
Then a few hours later, Henry Blackburn of Fairview High School (Boulder, Colo.), pledged his commitment to Addazio’s Rams as well.
A one-time commit to the University of Pennsylvania, Blackburn was a two-way stud for the Knights in 2019. On offense, Blackburn hauled in 75 receptions for 1,335 yards and a state-leading 26 touchdowns at wide receiver. On defense, Blackburn played defensive back and was third on his team with 60 total tackles.
Based on the graphic he shared on Twitter, Blackburn intends to come in as a safety. Hollens, on the other hand, will come in as an athlete or a player that does not have a predetermined position.
Along with Hollens and Blackburn, the Rams still have eight other hard commits for the 2020 class according to 247Sports. 2021 commit, Luke McAllister (QB), recently reaffirmed his intention to eventually sign with CSU in an interview with Lindsey Smith as well— although he did say he was still waiting to hear from Addazio.
“I love CSU and we want to make the program better. Being such an early commit I would like to be able to help them recruit more 2021 players,” McAllister told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “But I’m sure coach Addazio is focusing on the class of 2020 recruits with signing day coming up.”
With roughly a week to try to sign the majority of the 2020 class, Addazio did not come into an easy situation. He made it clear at his introductory press conference that this was no time to panic, though. According to Addazio, the only thing he can do is take things one day at a time.
So far, the new CEO of CSU football seems to be doing a nice job of stabilizing things inside the program. There have not been many public de-commits and although no staff moves have been verified at this time, based on what families of recruits are saying, Bryan Applewhite (running backs coach) and Keith Gillmore (defensive line coach) appear to have been retained by Addazio. They are the only two assistants that have been on the road recruiting for the Rams lately and seem to be part of the future plans.
It would make sense for Addazio to target someone with local experience like Applewhite as well as someone like Gillmore, who has heavy experience in recruiting Texas. It will be interesting to see if any other members of the staff are brought back, though.
Last season’s wide receivers coach Joe Cox recently removed the title from his Twitter bio, which doesn’t seem like an indication that he will be with the Rams moving forward.
Regardless of whoever ends up being retained on the staff, if they can salvage the majority of the roster and continue to pick up steam on the recruiting trail, the Rams should be in decent shape moving forward. The last couple of weeks have already made a great impact but it’s safe to say that the next couple of months will definitely be huge for the future of CSU football.
