Buffs Looking More Powerful As Spring Ball Continues

BOULDER - At the conclusion of the 2014 Colorado football season, coach Mike MacIntyre made a vow that his 2015 team would be stronger and more powerful. Halfway through spring practices, he has already begun to see the effort in the weight room paying off on the field.

"I think our strength is really improving," MacIntyre said Friday following the seventh of the Buffs' 15 practices. "We changed around the weight room a little bit this off-season; it's a lot more power oriented. So, that's really helping us, too. I think it is translating to the field."

MacIntyre noted that it will translate "a lot more" by the time August camp rolls around and his players have five more months in the weight room with director of sports performance Dave Forman under their belts. But MacIntyre is pleased with the progress he has seen thus far.

"I do see a lot more power," he said. "And the guys are wanting to get in the weight room and starting to understand what we're doing with the squats and dead lifts and bench and everything we're doing. A lot of power stuff there."

What MacIntyre is really looking forward to seeing is the effect that the new strength program will have on the win-loss column for the 2015 Buffs. Particularly, MacIntyre pointed to the defense and the secondary, where he sees some of the biggest improvement occurring.

"[DB] Kenneth [Crawley] is having a really good spring and he is getting bigger," MacIntyre said. "Him and Ahkello [Witherspoon], I was teasing they can actually wear their sleeves up now. They're getting bigger and stronger and getting into the 180's. John Walker has gained 10 pounds, so all of those guys are getting bigger and stronger. Evan White, too, so it's exciting seeing all of that happen, it really is."

MacIntyre expects to see the defense force more turnovers this fall as the team plays with more physicality on defense. Knocking passes down in the secondary and forcing fumbles in the backfield are all aspects MacIntyre is looking for improvement on, along with what he says are "the little things" that win football games.

"(The players) are working hard," he said. "Dave is doing a good job in the weight room. We're continuously lifting all through spring and the whole time we have a big cycle."

Following spring practices, the team will hold a Night of Champions, where each player will "max out" on certain lifts in a competition for proving their strength. In addition, MacIntyre said each player has had a picture taken before spring practices began and will have it displayed next to a picture taken after spring concludes as a way to demonstrate the noticeable difference in each player's appearance.

The Buffs will continue with spring practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. All are closed to the public.