The Colorado Buffaloes are back at the adult table

BOULDER – Signing Day 2017 was the most joyous day at Folsom Field since the Colorado Buffaloes took down the ranked Utah Utes on Nov. 26. It was also the biggest Signing Day for the Buffs since 2008. Such a momentous day for the program that ESPN even had a correspondent in the CU facilities for the first time ever. A celebration that was fit for a storied program which has re-established itself among the big boys of college football.

Colorado has put themselves back onto the same table that big dogs of recruiting eat at, via the efforts of recruiting coordinator and co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini. The soon-to-be second-year coach has now signed his first ever class as the recruiting coordinator. A class ranked No. 25 on ESPN and No. 17 on Bleacher Report.

On Wednesday alone, the Buffaloes flipped a three-star ASU commit, tight end Jared Poplawski, and received a letter of intent from the once Cal commit, three-star lineman Casey Roddick, all on their way to receiving 27 separate faxes.

To put this 2017 class in perspective, for the 27 signees they had a combined 122 Power-5 offers, the previous three classes combined had 74 Power-5 offers.

Thrown into recruiting battles with schools like Oregon, USC, UCLA, Texas, LSU, Ohio State and Notre Dame—Colorado is living a dream that only Mike MacIntyre saw as possible a few years back.

“Overall, we had a lot more guys getting attacked,” MacIntyre said. “The other reason (besides winning) we did is that people out there trust our evaluations now. They know we’re evaluating and they also know the kids we’re recruiting will be eligible.”

It would be easy to think the success on the field was what lead to the recruiting success but a lot of the commitments, even some of the stars, came before the 2016 season begun.

“We had a really good class before we had started the season, if you think about it,” MacIntyre explained. “What the season did is it solidified those guys. You always have a couple things happen, but it solidified it for those guys.”

The real reason was because of the plan that Chiaverini put in pace to recruit the high-profile football schools in California, Texas and even Colorado. They were able to get signees from schools like Allen, Desoto, Cedar Hill, Denton, St. John Bosco, Servite, Murrieta Valley, Valor and Cherry Creek. What that does is build relationships for the future, which is possibly paramount in recruiting.

MacIntyre detailed how winning has helped to implement Colorado’s philosophies as working into the mind of recruits, “You can’t stop someone in a school or someone at a restaurant or a family member and say, ‘Hey I am thinking of going to Colorado,’ and they go, ‘Hey they stink, you don’t want to go there.’ Then you say it another time their response is, ‘Hey you ought to go! Did you see that game last night? I would love to come watch you play there.’ It’s a whole different world, I can’t control that. Now, as we won that started to control it and they know we have a good program here and we’re proud of it.”

MacIntyre and with his current staff, some new, some old, believe that they are selling the complete package at CU. That includes academics, facilities, uniforms, tradition, family atmosphere and now a good football team.

“When they come on their visit and see what we have to offer now, there’s really not a school that has anything better to offer than we do,” MacIntyre explained. “Everyone has kind of a niche but when you encompass our whole now with the Pac-12, with the history of the school and how we compete and where we’re going to be ranked and where we’re going to be going… I know I’m biased but you look at the whole package and it’s pretty good now.”

What MacIntyre has done with this class in continuing to set the foundation is proof that Colorado’s success can be sustainable. He has been able to build the belief that the Buffs are back, and they’re back for good. That message which MacIntyre preaches has resonated through some of the biggest high school football programs in the country.