Why CSU coaches, players feel the Rams are off to a better start this season

FORT COLLINS, Colo.— Five days into fall camp, Colorado State football seems to be in a much better position than they were at this same time a year ago.

“It’s a much different feel, I like it,” Defensive coordinator John Jancek told the media on Monday. “We’re heading in the right direction for sure.”

The Rams, coming off of a 3-9 season, have been humbled greatly. From the coaching staff to the players, the entire locker room had to take a long look in the mirror and evaluate what went wrong last season.

“It was tremendously humbling,” senior running back Marvin Kinsey told BSN Rams on Monday.

According to Kinsey, when head coach Mike Bobo addressed the team in January, he set a precedent for what was going to be expected and since that moment, both the players and staff members have been in synch with their mission.

“When you go 3-9, you gotta learn something from it,” Kinsey said. “In the spring, we took a big step forward. We’re working hard and doing what we need to do so that we don’t ever go through that again.”

What’s been the biggest difference? Kinsey says multiple factors have played into the team’s improvement. Something that was mentioned by Kinsey, Bobo and both coordinators, though, was how the players are in much better shape this summer.

“We’re in a great position to push ourselves in practice, we’re not trying to survive practice,” Bobo said.  “A lot of credit goes to our weight staff and a lot of credit goes to the leaders on our team.”

Jancek, additionally, added how at the end of the 2018 season, the Rams didn’t have a single defensive back that weighed over 180 pounds. Heading into the 2019 season, both starting safeties, Jamal Hicks and Logan Stewart are playing well over 200 pounds and the corners have added weight as well.

According to Jancek, that added muscle is allowing the players to be more physical, but it’s also given the guys some edge to their game.

“They look in the mirror and they see themselves—they see the difference and I think it’s added confidence—and I see that in their intentions to try and tackle,” Jancek said.

Along with being more physically prepared, Jancek feels that continuity within the staff is huge.  By not having to go back to “ground zero”, the coaches are more familiar with the terminology and language, as well as their ability to make improvements on the spot.

“We’re all firing on eight cylinders right now,” Jancek said.

One of the other big keys is having Bobo back and relatively healthy. The fifth-year head coach did confirm that he still is dealing with nerve damage in the bottom of his feet, but is he is feeling much better than last season.

With Bobo back in the building, the process of preparing for the regular season is not being disrupted as it was last fall. Both Jancek and offensive coordinator Dave Johnson expressed that having their leader back has made the entire operation smoother.

“It was a trying time, definitely not how you want to start a season—that’s for sure,” Jancek said of 2018.

Johnson added that Bobo does a tremendous job of taking the pressure off of his staff with the way that he prepares and leads the team. But more importantly, Johnson says the relationship Bobo has with everyone is paramount to their success, and not having his presence consistently in the building was huge.

“I’m a lot more settled right now than I was at this time last year,” Johnson said.

Obviously, there is still much to be learned about this football team—the Rams have held just one practice in full pads. But it’s clear that the coaches feel this team is going to be more competitive this fall than a season ago. In about a month, the Ram faithful will know whether the coaches were right or not.