SteveO Michel: "We changed the culture" of CSU Football

Rewind five years; the Colorado State Rams football team was down in the dumps.

After it’s third straight 3-9 season, Steve Fairchild was fired and Jim McElwain was hired. In a matter of four seasons, the Rams went from 4-8 in McElwain’s first year to 10-3 last season, including back-to-back bowl appearances.

And just as CSU improved over that time span, so did linebacker SteveO Michel.

In 2011, he redshirted. 2012 was when Michel first saw the field, earning a sack on his first tackle. In 2013, he saw more of the playing field and racked up 18 tackles with one sack and a quarterback hurry. His most memorable play as a Ram came that season, too, in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl when SteveO forced a fumble in the final minute to give the Rams an opportunity to kick the game-winning field goal.

Last season, Michel’s stats again improved: 30 tackles with 4.5 TFLs, two sacks and a QBH. He became a more consistent presence as a pass-rusher and special teams ace; he forced himself onto the field. This year, through seven games, Michel has 16 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and one sack as he’s on pace for his best season yet.

The redshirt senior realizes the team’s success in recent years and hopes the senior group leaves a mark on the school.

“We’re trying to leave a legacy of, when we first came in as freshmen, we always said we could change the culture,” SteveO Michel explained last Tuesday during the Rams bye week. “Every year you could tell we improved. We already changed the culture.

“You want to look back on our legacy like, ‘Man, we changed the culture. And Colorado State continues to get better and better off of how we started.'”

There’s no doubt this senior group was part of that changing culture, from a second-rate team which would regularly disappoint to one which has been consistently competitive for four straight years. The hurdles for McElwain to clear were huge, Mike Bobo was able to inherit a strong structure created by the previous coaching regime. That’s not to take anything away from Bobo; he’s done wonderfully in his first season to not only win over the players but get them to buy into his style, his philosophies with his staff.

All told, Colorado State is in a much better place today than they were in 2011, thanks to many individuals coming together to create something special.

Unfortunately, the Rams haven’t hit their lofty preseason expectations for this season, but they haven’t lost hope, either.

“I feel like what we were expecting in the season was to be a great football team. We fell short,” Michel said. “Those two games (overtime losses to Minnesota and CU) kind of put us at a standstill. But I think after this win (over Air Force) and going into the bye week, we got our confidence back rollin’. It’s always good to win before a bye week. We have a chance to rest up and get ahead of the next opponent, which is San Diego State.”

That’s exactly what Colorado State used their bye week for; resting and scouting the Aztecs, who are 5-3, 4-0 MW this season. A win this Saturday would be huge — Nick Stevens acknowledged the offense must start fast — and would help CSU continue to build that confidence down the stretch.

“We’re still together,” Michel said. “Nobody has lost hope. We’re still confident, still hitting and running like we’re 7-0. Nothing has really changed.”

“Coaches always say they can tell we stay together no matter what and that’s how we’ve been,” he continued. “We got to know each other. When adversity hits, that relationship comes in and it helps out a lot.”

He also said Rams players have a great relationship with head coach Mike Bobo, which is helping this team push through the adversity of tough losses, too.

Colorado State (3-4, 1-2 MW) hosts SDSU (5-3, 4-0MW) this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MDT in Fort Collins. There are still tickets available, so visit CSURams.com or the McGraw Center for yours. Last week was a sellout for Colorado State versus Air Force and it would be special to have two in a row.

Video

From earlier in the year, following the 65-13 win over Savannah State in Week 1, SteveO Michel talks about how the team can always improve.