Published: March 1, 2017 By

mike macintyre

CUā€™s head football coach since late 2012, Mike MacIntyre won nearly every major college Coach of the Year award for the Buffsā€™ 2016 performance, including the Associated Press and Walter Camp awards. Here he reflects on the season and offers a glimpse of his life away from Folsom Field. A longer version of this interview is available here.

Can you pick one moment that stands out as the best/most memorable of the season for you?

Thatā€™s not a fair question! There were so many. I would say the most memorable moment, at the time, when it happened, was Ahkello Witherspoonā€™s (EBioā€™17) interception against Oregon. In the end zone. To seal the game.

Is there anything youā€™d do differently, as a coach, in hopes of changing the outcome of the final two games?

We built this program over the last four years. Weā€™ve made incremental starts and then we made a big jump. The way everybody sees it, it all happened all of a sudden. Well, no it didnā€™t. It was built, built, built, built and then we made it. Of course, thereā€™s different things looking back you can say youā€™d like to change, but we played two top-10 teams, played them in a big atmosphere. Now youā€™ve got to be a little more intense, execute a little better. When we get there next year, weā€™ll be ready for that.

The expectations will change heading into the 2017 season. How do you address that with the players?

Expectations are good. How you prepare on a daily basis to realize itā€™s the hard work is what helps you reach those expectations. Weā€™ll probably be ranked going into next year, I would think, and so everyone is going to say, ā€˜Yā€™all have arrived.ā€™ No, we go back to ground zero
and start working again.

What was it like to be a part of ESPNā€™s championship broadcast on Jan. 9?

It was kind of chaotic. It was fun to hear the perspective of the other coaches and watch it that way, but it was long. I was wishing I could go climb on my couch and take a nap.

What is your favorite running route in Boulder?

Wow. I enjoy running down Boulder Creek because thatā€™s the place I can go to the most. ā€¦ Itā€™s funny, people used to try to run over me on their bicycles and now they wave at me and say, ā€œHi,ā€ since weā€™ve been winning.

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Are you talking about straight through? Most of the time Iā€™m waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning. ā€¦ Spring break, I sleep good. Everybodyā€™s in school, we canā€™t recruit, I go to the beach, hang out, get tired and sleep. I donā€™t even set my alarm clock. The other good thing is my cellphone doesnā€™t work too good down there [Amelia Island, Fla.] either.Ģż

Condensed and edited by Jennifer Osieczanek.

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