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Sports

Meet the new guys joining coach Addazio’s dudes

Jack Taylor

January 21, 2020

The Colorado State University football team looks to bolster their likelihood of winning back the interest of Ram fans. Following the recent hiring of head coach Steve Addazio, the CSU athletic community is hesitant to rally behind their new coach.

Fans have more than enough justification to be worried about the future of the program. Addazio’s previous head coaching stint at Boston College was no more fruitful than Mike Bobo’s time leading the Rams. However, in the world of college football, no head coach can single-handedly lead a football team.

For CSU football to end the 2020 season with a positive record and leave fans with a good first impression of their new head coach, the program must impress when filling in the remaining vacant coaching positions.

Steve Addazio discusses the future of the Colorado State University football program. (Devin Cornelius | The Collegian)

New CSU football head coach Addazio has a major say when hiring a new coaching staff. Currently, Addazio has a total coaching staff of seven; this is a very small staff for CSU football’s timetable. For reference, last season Bobo entered January with a coaching staff of 25. The Rams will attempt to juggle recruiting players and planning for the upcoming season short staffed, at least for now.

The most notable recent hires for the CSU football team are offensive coordinator Joey Lynch and defensive coordinator Chuck Heater.

New OC Lynch is coming to the CSU football program after ending a long-term relationship with his alma mater, Ball State.

During his six years as OC at Ball State, Lynch’s offense was able to establish a solid run game that dominated the Mid-American Conference.

A testament to the success of Lynch’s run-first offense scheme came last year when Ball State finished with the 18th best offense in all of college football. Much of the success for the impressive season can be attributed to Ball State star running back Caleb Huntley, who rushed for 1,275 yards.

A successful run game not only tires out defenses, but the offensive scheme also relieves stress on the passing game, which an unsuccessful CSU football program relied on heavily during the Bobo Era.

A solid run game has eluded CSU football in recent memory, especially after Marvin Kinsey Jr. was kicked off the team last season. With Lynch working in tandem with Addazio, who also prefers a run-first offense, expect the Rams to bully their opponent’s defense with hard-nose football and a more balanced offensive attack than in years past.

Commanding the defensive side of the ball for CSU’s 2020 season will be recently-hired Heater. Heater has previously coached the CSU Rams as defensive coordinator, but not since the early ’90s.

Since Heater’s departure in 1992, he has held defensive coaching positions at multiple powerhouse college football teams, such as the University of Colorado, Washington, Utah, Florida and, most recently, Marshall.

CSU football had a miserable defensive season last year, with individual players standing out, like Jamal Hicks and Dequan Jackson. But, as a unit, the CSU defense fell well below the bar.

Heater’s defense plays just like it sounds: it heats up. With a hard-hitting 4-3 scheme that will apply constant pressure to the offensive backfield, Heater will be planning to bring the heat early and often with four down linemen.

A 4-3 defensive package is not foreign to CSU football. The Rams used the package on short-yardage situations throughout the season last year. In those short-yardage situations on third down, CSU’s 4-3 defensive package ranked in the top 10 nationally, forcing opponents into a 30% third-down efficiency. So, fans should get excited to see the Rams light up opposing offenses with a hard-hitting, high-flying defense.

As CSU gears up for the 2020 football season, head coach Addazio will be focused on filling his coaching staff. The senior coaching positions for CSU have been filled with the additions of offensive coordinator Lynch and defensive coordinator Heater. However, in the coming weeks, expect to see the Rams add more skill coaches.

Currently, CSU has hired multiple coaches who have followed Addazio from Boston College. This includes senior associate head coach and running backs coach Brian White and defensive line coach Antoine Smith.

Addazio is also bringing his son onto the coaching staff at CSU. Louie Addazio was hired to become CSU’s offensive line coach after an impressive stint at Bowling Green.

Joining Heater on the defensive side of the ball are coaches Sean Cronin from South Florida, who will be in charge of tuning CSU’s linebackers, and Anthony Perkins, who previously worked with defensive backs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jack Taylor can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @j_taylr.

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About the Contributors

Devin Cornelius, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

Luke Bourland, Photo Director

Luke Bourland is a history major from Durham, Connecticut. Bourland is studying history in hopes of going to law school in the fall 2022 semester after graduation. In terms of which law school Bourland wants to go to, he likes to joke, "I will attend anywhere that'll have me!" Bourland has been taking pictures recreationally for most of his life but did not officially join The Collegian until the beginning of his sophomore year in 2019. Bourland originally joined The Collegian to develop his skills and to photograph out of his comfort zone. During his time at The Collegian, Bourland has held positions such as freelance photographer, media archivist, assistant photo editor, photo editor and finally, photo director. As the photo director, it is Bourland's job to make sure the paper is accompanied with beautiful pictures alongside the photo editor. Bourland has photographed events ranging from speeches and galas to football and basketball games. In his free time, Bourland is an avid golfer, fly-fisherman and still loves to take pictures recreationally. Differing from the style of photography at The Collegian, Bourland enjoys slowing down and shooting landscapes and portraits on film. Bourland first learned how to develop film with a friend in the bathrooms of Corbett Hall, stuffing towels under the doors to avoid any light leaking in. No matter where life takes Bourland, he hopes that photography will always be there along the ride.

This publication is not an official publication of Colorado State University, but is published by an independent corporation using the name The Rocky Mountain Collegian pursuant to a license granted by CSU. Approximately 59% of Rocky Mountain Student Media Corp’s income is provided by the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU) for the purpose of fostering student careers post-college and greater campus awareness and engagement.

Go to www.rockymountainstudentmedia.com for more information. Rocky Mountain Student Media is a registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 26-2998141

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