Patience, Trust Have Fueled Colorado's Dramatic Rise and Dream Season

Objectivity is a word that’s supposed to go hand-in-hand with both broadcasting and journalism, but for Joel Klatt it’s justifiably gone out the window regarding one thing this season, his alma mater.

He’s thrilled with what’s happening at Colorado, which will play Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night.

“We try and be unbiased and everything, but listen, that’s like family to me. That’s blood, and it’s always thicker than water,” the chief analyst for Fox Sports said. “I have been so happy for those kids, that they’ve been able to enjoy some success at the University of Colorado.”

It’s been a long time since the Buffaloes have done so. Prior to this season, one has to go back to when Klatt was still the starting quarterback for the program’s last winning season.

That was 2005, and despite reaching the Big 12 Championship Game, not all was well with the Buffaloes. After being routed by Texas, 70-3, head coach Gary Barnett was forced out after seven seasons.

Since then, Colorado has switched conferences, both Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree have come and gone as head coaches and the only postseason appearance was a loss in the Independence Bowl—to a program going in the opposite direction, Alabama (in Nick Saban's first season). Lacking much of an identity except for mediocrity, the Buffaloes began a streak of 24 straight defeats against ranked opponents.

So no one is going to argue the point when head coach Mike MacIntyre uses a word like “storybook” to describe some of what’s happened in Boulder. Already named the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, he came into this season with a 10-27 record from his first three seasons there, 2-25 in Pac-12 play, but told his players before the season opener "You're my dream." 

“It has been unexpected and shocking, and I don’t use those terms lightly,” Klatt said. “Even coming into this season, with a veteran-laden roster, it just hadn’t proven anything other than they lost some close games—and they lost a lot of them.”

Specifically, the Buffaloes had lost eight games by seven points or fewer over the previous two years. They had shown potential, but in the preseason Pac-12 media poll they were still picked to finish dead last in the South Division, with only Oregon State in the North getting fewer overall votes.

That was on par with South Carolina in the SEC, Wake Forest in the ACC, Rutgers in the Big Ten and Iowa State in the Big 12.

Instead, Colorado pulled off the largest season-to-season turnaround in Pac-12 history and became just the third Power Five team to end a stretch of 10 straight losing seasons with a 10-win season.

School	Conf.	From	To	Wins
Auburn	SEC	3-9 (2012)	12-2 (2013)	+9
TCU	Big 12	4-8 (2013)	12-1 (2014)	+8
Colorado	Big 12	3-8 (2000)	10-3 (2001)	+7
Northwestern	Big Ten	3-7-1 (1994)	10-2 (1995)	+7
Penn State	Big Ten	4-7 (2004)	11-1 (2005)	+7
Wake Forest	ACC	4-7 (2005)	11-3 (2006)	+7
Arkansas	SEC	4-7 (2005)	10-4 (2006)	+6
Colorado*	Pac-12	4-9 (2015)	10-2 (2016)	+6
Wash. State	Pac-10	4-7 (2000)	10-2 (2001)	+6

Like with most successful revivals at this level, it wasn’t due to just one person and didn't happened overnight. As the program longed for a return to the success enjoyed a couple of decades ago when winning the 1990 national championship and the 1994 Heisman Trophy (Rashaan Salaam), a combination of commitment and patience played a significant part in its resurrection.

So did hiring MacIntyre at the end of the 2012 season with hopes that he'd repeat his San Jose State success. There, coming off a 2-10 finish, the Spartans went from 1-12 during his first season in 2010 to 10-2 just two years later (not including a Military Bowl win after MacIntyre left).

Then came athletic director Rick George in 2013. Not only did he get approval to go ahead with the athletic department’s long-standing dream of building a state-of-the-art facility, but he spearheaded the massive fundraising effort needed to make it a reality.

The $156 million expansion project, including a new indoor field and the headquarters dubbed Champions Center, opened earlier this year. 

While the football team continued to creep along, going 4-8, 2-10 and 4-9, George made a crucial non-decision, sticking with the head coach even though MacIntyre had been hired by his predecessor, Mike Bohn.

A lot of ADs wouldn’t have done that, or would have been eager to bring in his or her own hire. Patience isn’t known for being a virtue in college football these days, as Oregon and Texas can attest to by recently firing their coaches after LSU beat them to the punch.

“It’s the nature of the business. It’s the world we’re living in,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said during his press conference Monday. “But, I knew if you gave those guys enough time at Colorado—I knew when we played them three years ago that they were going to be good. It’s just a matter of you hang in long enough to let things take over and get it right.”

That’s the sentiment surrounding Colorado, which made football a priority again and now wants to be known for more than being the surprise of the season.

Granted, Colorado has a lot of key senior players, with a tough, inspiring quarterback, Sefo Liufau, who has more than paid his dues as a rare four-year starter. Under the direction of coordinator Jim Leavitt, the defense is the conference’s best, and the secondary might be as good as any in the nation.

But this doesn’t show the signs of being a flash in the pan.

The way Colorado plays power football is sort of like Stanford, an identity it hopes to maintain. By building the program up, the younger players know what’s expected. There’s a trust that’s developed between everyone, which is even obvious during games and has carried over to the fans.

For last week’s home finale against Utah, attendance at Folsom Field was 52,301, Colorado’s first sellout since Oct. 4, 2008. Many stormed the field after the team pulled off its first back-to-back wins over ranked foes since 2002 and first 4-0 November since 1975.

“This has been a real breath of fresh air,” Klatt said. 

“I couldn’t be more happy for them and I think they’ve done it the right way. Hopefully they have one more [win] in them.”

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.