MacIntyre Names Six Assistants To Colorado Staff

BOULDER - University of Colorado head football coach Mike MacIntyre has hired his first wave of full-time assistants for his coaching staff and the school officially released the names Thursday.

MacIntyre was named the Buffaloes' 25th full-time head coach this past December 10 after leading San Jose State to a 10-2 regular season record, a No. 24 national ranking in all three major polls or standings (AP, Coaches, BCS) and a berth in the Military bowl, where the Spartans defeated Bowling Green, 29-20. He replaced Jon Embree, who guided the Buffs to a 4-21 record in two seasons as head coach.

Six of his assistant coaches from San Jose State will follow MacIntyre to Colorado, including defensive coordinator Kent Baer and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren. Baer will also coach the linebackers and Lindgren the quarterbacks.

Four other assistants are Boulder-bound and will continue to coach the same positions they did for MacIntyre on the Spartan staff: Klayton Adams (tight ends), Gary Bernardi (offensive line), Charles Clark (secondary) and Jim Jeffcoat (defensive line).

Colorado will become the eighth Division I-A/FBS university in which Baer, 61, will serve as a defensive coordinator, as he held those similar duties for 28 combined seasons, in order, at Utah State, Idaho, California, Arizona State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington and San Jose State. Baer served as interim head coach for the Spartans' bowl game, and his defense shined in capping off a season where it finished 24th in the NCAA, allowing 344.7 yards per game, including 19th against the run (122.2).

His best units have excelled at stopping the run, highlighted by two particular seasons at Notre Dame. In 2002, the Fighting Irish were ranked high nationally in scoring defense (9th), pass efficiency defense (10th), rushing defense (10th) and total defense (13th). Baer was recognized for the Irish's rankings that season as a Frank Broyles Award finalist, presented to the nation's most outstanding assistant coach. In 2002, Notre Dame yielded a paltry five rushing touchdowns and was third nationally in rushing defense. A decade earlier (1992), when he was at Arizona State, the Sun Devils ranked seventh nationally in total defense.

Lindgren, 32, worked just the 2012 season for MacIntyre, having joined the Spartans a year ago after six years on the staff at Northern Arizona.

His lone year coordinating the Spartan offense was a most productive one. San Jose State averaged 446.2 yards per game, including 332.7 passing, good for seventh in the nation, and a pass efficiency rating of 170.2, second best in the land. SJSU was 32nd overall in offense, with six games of 500 or more yards (seven 400-plus), and was 30th nationally in scoring as the team finished 11-2 on the year.

Adams, 29, played on the offensive line at Boise State under former CU head coach Dan Hawkins, and got his start in the coaching profession as a student assistant on Hawkins' last Bronco staff there in 2005. He was at San Jose for two years with MacIntyre, having joined his staff in 2011 after two years at Sacramento State where he coached the tight ends and offensive tackles.

Bernardi, 58, is a veteran of 32 seasons coaching at Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision schools, most recently spending all three years with MacIntyre at San Jose State. Many of those were spent in the Pac-10 Conference, including seven years at Arizona (1980-86), six at Southern California (1987-92) and 10 at UCLA (1994-2003). He also spent one year at Northern Arizona and five at UNLV. Other than one year at Arizona when he coached the wide receivers, he has always coached the offensive line, the offensive tackles and/or the tight ends. At USC, he also coordinated special teams and at UCLA, NAU and UNLV, he also served as recruiting coordinator.

Clark, 28, also spent the last three years with MacIntyre at San Jose State where he coached the defensive backs, as he accompanied him from Duke where he worked with him for two years on the staff at Duke. He spent one year (2008) as a quality control intern who had scouting, film breakdown, and recruiting responsibilities in addition to helping the assistant coaches, and in 2009, he was a defensive graduate assistant.

Jeffcoat, 51, enjoyed a 15-year career in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys (1983-94) and the Buffalo Bills (1995-97). A defensive end at Arizona State, he was a first round selection by Dallas in the '83 NFL draft (23rd player overall), he recorded 102-+ quarterback sacks in his career, including five in one game versus Washington in 1985.

He began his coaching career with the Cowboys after retiring from the game, working as an assistant defensive line coach in 1998 and 1999. He then coached the defensive ends the next five seasons (2000-04). He turned to coaching in the college ranks in 2008, serving as the defensive line coach at the University of Houston for three years, and then joined MacIntyre's San Jose staff for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

MacIntyre said the remaining three assistant positions, coaches for the running backs, wide receivers and another defensive coach (discipline to be determined), will be filled sooner rather than later, hopefully by the end of the week.