Woelk: Tucker Brings Plenty To Table As He Takes Reins For Buffs

BOULDER — It is perhaps only coincidence that the similarities between the two situations are so striking — but it is also impossible to ignore the parallels.

Thirty-six years ago, a nationwide Colorado coaching search ultimately settled on a young, relatively unknown defensive coordinator from a perennially elite program. No doubt, there were plenty of questions when Bill McCartney landed in Boulder.

Now, almost four decades later, the man who helped McCartney build the most successful era in CU history has followed the same path. When CU Athletic Director Rick George introduces former Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker as Colorado's 26th head coach at a Thursday press conference, he will do so with the comfortable conviction that he has found the coach who can return the Buffaloes to national prominence.

Experience has a way of building confidence.

Yes, there will be questions again as Tucker takes the reins in Boulder. Colorado has hired a man who has never been a college head coach, and there is no way to know what the future holds.

But what we already know is that he comes to the job with plenty working in his favor:

— The pedigree is impeccable. History at Colorado suggests that the most successful coaches came to Boulder with an intimate knowledge of how elite programs built their success. Eddie Crowder came from Oklahoma, McCartney from Michigan and Gary Barnett from Colorado (via Northwestern).

Tucker's resume´ matches those and more. He has worked for some of the most successful coaches in the business, from Jim Tressel to Nick Saban to Kirby Smart (Saban hired him at three different schools), and his stops have included Michigan State, Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia. He has coached for national championship teams, seen what it takes to win at the highest level, and will bring that knowledge with him.

— He has first-hand knowledge of Colorado's potential. Folks who have been around college football for a while know the Buffs have been among the nation's elite programs. They remember the era when CU finished in the top 20 in the nation eight consecutive years (1989-96), including five top-10 finishes and a national championship.

For most folks, though, it is more memory than experience.

Not so for Tucker. He experienced the Buffs at their best on a personal level. He played on the 1994 Wisconsin team that came to Boulder as the nation's 10th-ranked team and left on the short end of a 55-17 thumping. He not only remembers names such as Salaam and Stewart, he personally witnessed what Colorado football can be.

That's a nice frame of reference.

— Tucker is not afraid of expectations; rather he is a man who will embrace them. Tucker has coached at programs where winning championships is an expectation, not a hope. He has worked for coaches who have operated — and thrived — under that type of pressure, and he knows how to handle those circumstances.

That type of background and knowledge is invaluable. When Tucker accepted the job, the expectations at Colorado jumped up a notch almost immediately.

"Rebuilding" will not be in the vocabulary. When George announced that he was making a change, he also made it clear that he expects Colorado to win right away. Tucker won't shy away from that kind of challenge.

— The man knows defense. Virtually everywhere he's been, Tucker has put outstanding defenses on the field. He knows what works, he knows what is successful and he knows the college game. High-scoring offenses are all the rage in college football today, but there's still one thing that never changes: defense makes the difference and defense wins championships.

No doubt, there are questions. Critics of the hire point to the fact that he has never coached in the West and thus never recruited in the West. Those same criticisms surfaced when McCartney arrived from Michigan.

The answer, of course, is that recruiting is as much art as it is science — and great recruiters are not bound by geography. As one coach told me years ago, "If you can recruit, you can recruit. Doesn't matter where. Selling your program is the same thing everywhere."

So is Tucker the perfect hire? There's no such thing.

But he is a man who fits the mold of historic success at Colorado. He was hired by a man who knows what it takes to succeed at CU. He has an intimate knowledge of success at the highest level and the demeanor to match.

That, folks, is one heck of a start.

Welcome to Colorado, Mel Tucker. Great to have you here.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu