New UNC Head Coach Ed McCaffrey Readies For First Spring In Greeley
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Spring football is underway on the University of Northern Colorado campus, and anticipation is high for the Bears team. New head coach Ed McCaffrey has Greeley buzzing about the upcoming season.
McCaffrey held his first spring practice on Tuesday. For some, it's not the first time they've called McCaffrey "coach." He's coached some of the current players on the team as far back as little league. For many of his players, he was a known quantity even before they met.
"I think it's a good thing," McCaffrey said. "I know a lot of the kids on the team but the team has a great attitude. They're hungry."
The goals of spring practice are clear.
"We need to get bigger, stronger, faster, no doubt about it," McCaffrey said. "It takes all year to do that. But it starts with showing up, working out, and having fun. They've shown up. The guys that were a little late or didn't show up, they were held accountable. We haven't seen that lately. The guys are holding each other accountable, and that's when you know you have a chance to be great. They're taking care of it before it gets to me."
When he took over as coach, he instituted a new policy. Starters weren't handed their jobs. Bench players weren't automatically relegated to depth. In fact, each player had their number taken away and required to work to get it back.
"We took everybody's number away, and over the course of winter conditioning, you had to earn it," McCaffrey said. "It's not just in the weight room, it's not just on the field, it's also in the classroom and in the community. We want our guys to know what it means to be a Bear. You've got to earn that number back. It's a privilege. I think for a lot of the guys who maybe weren't playing, there's a little bit of buzz, a little bit of a fresh start, like I have a chance to prove myself, and that's what it's all about."
McCaffrey has filled out his coaching ranks, including Dave Baldwin as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. Baldwin was McCaffrey's Wide Receivers coach at Stanford in 1986 before moving to various colleges throughout his career. Also on staff is one coach particularly close to the head coach, and one with good professional experience.
"He was playing in the XFL. A couple weeks in, he called me up and said 'I don't know if the position is available, but if it is, I'd love to apply' and I said 'Yeah I think you might be suited for the job.' He's run a lot of the systems that we're trying to run here."
That "he" McCaffrey was referring to is his son Max, now a Wide Receivers coach at UNC. McCaffrey played three years in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also played in four bowl games in four years at Duke and won two state titles at Valor Christian High School.
McCaffrey will hit the field with the Bears in the regular season starting on Sept. 5 against Fort Lewis College.
