July 27, 2010

 

By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Mychal Sisson already has enjoyed a fine career at Colorado State, and he hasn't even played a down in his junior season.

Sisson, a 5-foot-11, 209-pound junior from Duncanville, Texas, was a freshman All-American in 2008, led the team in tackles for a second straight year in 2009, and on Tuesday, earned more respect from members of the media.

The Rams' starting outside linebacker earned preseason all-conference recognition at the Mountain West football media days.

"He's a very experienced linebacker for a junior," Head Coach Steve Fairchild said. "He's started a lot of football games, made a lot of tackles for us, made a lot of plays. He's certainly deserving of this honor and I hope to see him this year have his best year yet.

"Mychal was a high-school running back down in Texas. He's very athletic for the linebacker position. When he scooped up that fumble a couple years ago against BYU and returned it for a touchdown, you could see his ball-carrying skills. He's very athletic for a linebacker and that helps because we face a lot of spread offenses, when he's out in space being able to move like he does."

Sisson started all 12 games at weakside linebacker in 2009, garnering second-team all-conference honors with 91 tackles (51 solo). He also tied for the conference lead, and tied for 24th nationally, averaging 1.29 tackles for loss per game. His 15½ tackles for loss in 2009 were the most by a CSU player since future Super Bowl champions Clark Haggans (17) and Joey Porter (16) in 1997. Plus, his team-leading six sacks were the most by a Rams defender since Bryan Save had seven in 2003.

First question: Every football player is a little anxious when sitting down for his first interview at Media Days, whether he admits it or not. For CSU, fullback Zac Pauga kicked off the Rams' 2010 interviews with former Notre Dame and Green Bay Packers lineman Aaron Taylor, now with CBS College Sports.

Taylor, after asking whether his cameraman was ready and rolling, wasted no time and fired away at Pauga with the first question.

"So, what do you think of the job President Obama has done so far?"

Pauga didn't respond and after a few awkward seconds, Taylor said he was just kidding. He was trying to break the ice.

The Rams fullback loosened up, answering several rapid-fire questions, telling Taylor among other answers that he preferred to make a big block to set up a big run, rather than making a big run. And by the end of the interview, when Taylor asked him about his fellow CSU representative this week, NT Guy Miller, Pauga was in midseason form.

"Is Guy Miller the most overrated defensive tackle in the Mountain West Conference," Taylor posed.

"Well," Pauga responded, "I don't know if he's the most overrated, but..."

And with that, the quick-witted fullback ended the Rams' first 2010 interview, with a bunch of laughs.

Miller then told Taylor his best attribute is that he goes hard on every play, and never takes a play off, and his goals this year are team victories, more than his own statistics.

Familiar face: Kelly Stouffer, the Rams' starting quarterback in the mid-1980s and one of five first-round NFL Draft choices in CSU football history, interviewed Fairchild, Pauga and Miller Tuesday for VERSUS. In addition to his duties with that network, Stouffer also will play a more visible role this year with The Mtn. as a studio host for weekend games.

New technology: After finishing with Stouffer, the three went next door to shoot promotional, no-sound pieces with VERSUS for the network's studio shows. Fairchild held a football, while earlier the two players donned their uniforms and held helmets, making various poses as the cameraman moved around the room, high and low. If fans were in the dark room, they would've noticed that the camera shooting the piece looked like something out of a futuristic science-fiction movie, like a robotic insect with a large flatscreen and two Nerf-like handles. VERSUS personnel said the high-definition camera, a Canon 7D digital SLR, was specifically created for these types of shoots, to capture dramatic shots with a cinematic look. The large-film, no-sound camera, with lenses and accessories, runs about $12,000.

Thomas family plans to give back: True freshman quarterback Pete Thomas will return to his hometown Nov. 6 when the Rams meet San Diego State, and his family hopes to literally give him his own cheering section.

Thomas' mom, Avis, said Tuesday that she hopes to purchase approximately 500 tickets for the event, explaining that about half will go to family and friends. One of 10 children, she is married to Pete's dad, whose parents had five kids, and the extended family is quite large. But more than relatives, she wants to honor so many people that helped her sons become successful, including coaches, educators and even bus drivers.

"It just made sense that we should all sit in the same section," she said.

Pete's brother Chris is a senior and former wrestler at the Air Force Academy.

Speaking of Thomas: The most popular topic of the day for the Rams was their true freshman quarterback, Thomas, who enters camp next week neck and neck in a battle for the starting role with redshirt freshman Nico Ranieri. Fairchild said his pro-style offense couldn't have been digested so quickly without 15 spring practices under Thomas' belt.

"By graduating high school early, he gave himself a chance," the coach said. "I don't think there's any way you can start without going through spring football. He's a very good student so he was able to get that done. He's a big, strong guy. He's got some toughness in him, he's got some accuracy. He was very, very productive at the high-school level, which doesn't guarantee anything, but we were certainly impressed with what he did. The more I'm in this, the more I realize that there are a lot of talented players on all these teams, and the ones that are successful are the ones that bring that want-to factor, and I think Pete has that."

Pauga, who'll line up behind the starter, has been impressed with what he's seen of not just Thomas, but also Ranieri, during player-led practices and those 15 spring sessions.

"They both have amazed me with their level of maturity and ability they've shown this summer," Pauga said. "Really, I'm comfortable playing behind either one of them."

He also added that he believes the depth and talent of CSU's backfield can help alleviate pressure from the young signal-caller.

"It's super important. We want to be able to run the football with a young quarterback and we have a lot of guys that can run."

No kid gloves for the kids: Fairchild said he and his staff won't coach his younger quarterbacks any differently than they have the starters each of the past two years, both fifth-year seniors.

"We will always coach them very hard," said Fairchild, a former CSU quarterback. "I've always wanted it to be much tougher on a quarterback in practice than it ever would be in a game, so you're in their ear from the second they come out to practice.

"It might be a similar situation to Jordan Wynn (Utah). I know we have some great, young talent, but I don't know if we can get it to where we want to be when we start the opener, but I like our talent level and I think we're well on our way to achieving what we want to get out of that position."

Speaking of guys that enrolled early: Fairchild said Tuesday that Cory Macon, who played in 10 games with nine starts last season at defensive end, will not return to the team. The senior missed all of spring practice for personal reasons and has been ruled academically ineligible.

Macon's departure makes true sophomore C.J. James the starter at defensive end entering camp.

A 6-foot-3, 249-pound lineman from Orlando, Fla., he played in 11 games as a reserve defensive lineman, finishing with 16 tackles (seven solo), three tackles for loss including two sacks, and one forced fumble. Like Thomas, he opted to forego all the pomp and circumstance of his final high-school semester and graduated early, enrolling at CSU in January 2009 to take part in spring practice. A player with enormous upside, he had two sacks in the season finale against Wyoming and enjoyed one of the Rams' strongest springs this past April.

The change also figures to open the gate for a few true freshmen defensive ends with loads of kinetic energy. Fairchild always has said he won't hesitate to play a true freshman, like James in 2009, if the player is ready and can help the Rams win.

Leonard Mason update: Fairchild also said that senior running back Leonard Mason pulled a hamstring and might be slowed in fall camp.

Kowalczyk update: Fairchild opened the Rams' press-conference session by updating the media on the condition of Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk, who underwent surgery to remove his cancerous prostate Thursday. The athletic department learned Tuesday that Kowalczyk got good news, that initial reports show that the cancer very likely has not spread, the best news he could've received.

First pitch: Fairchild, a southpaw, will throw out the first pitch at Thursday's Colorado Rockies-Pittsburgh Pirates game at Coors Field. The businessperson's special begins at 1:10 p.m. MDT.

Other Steve Fairchild quotes from Tuesday...

General: "I'm looking forward to getting back to work. We've had a very productive offseason. I like the way we've trained all through the winter months and our summer conditioning program. I like our work ethic. We're anxious to get started next week.

"We have to improve on everything. That first year, we won seven games and won a bowl game, but we probably weren't that good. That second year, we started out with a bang, getting votes in the national polls when we were 3-0, then finished on a really disappointing note, but we probably weren't that bad. We need to get going and get that bad taste out of our mouth.

"It is an optimistic time of year. You train all winter and all summer and something like Media Days signals the start of the season, that it's time to determine what you've accomplished in the offseason.

"I like to catch up with the other coaches from around the league, and it's a chance to talk a little about your program. It's fun, and like I said, once we're here, I know the season's ready to start.

On Pauga, his role and his position: "It's getting more and more unique in college football that an offense has a traditional pro-style playbook. So we do use a fullback and Zac's a big, big part of that. He's a fourth-year starter. He does a lot of the dirty work for us, blocking for us, in the running game, we're a downhill-run team, and in pass protection. He's shown that he can catch the ball and run the ball as well."

On the future: "Prior to my arrival, Colorado State had been one of the better teams in the Mountain West Conference. It can be done at our university and we need to get it back to that level. That's a multi-year process. We keep focused on the task at hand, which is to get better every time we go out to practice. I'm confident, watching these guys lead our football team this spring, that we're going to get that done. You look back at last season, and we weren't as bad as our record indicated, but it was a good lesson for all of us. Football comes down to one or two plays in a game; the year before we closed those out and found a way to get ourselves in a bowl game, and last year we weren't able to do that."

"It's not my program. It's a bunch of people pulling in the right direction. So, when I got here, I thought we should really look at how we were resourcing our program, because it was obvious to me that since I left, from 2000-07, there were some other teams really pulling away from Colorado State. I think we have the people on our campus to help us get back. We've built some new facilities. We're resourcing better in certain areas, we still need to improve in others, but people want to do the right thing. We've got a great staff. Just keep plugging away."

On what keeps him grounded in his plan entering Year 3, as new MWC coaches talk about their plans in Year 1: "A lot of times, it's the way you're doing things. I'm dumb enough to think we can win a national championship. We can be as good as we want it to be, but it's far bigger than me. We need the Board of the Governors, the President, the Athletic Director buying into what needs to happen. We need people on campus, and I think we have that, that help us recruit. It's just an attitude that has to occur, and I believe we have that. We want to be very good in football. We've done it before in the 90s, so it's not like it's any different. Now, it's just sitting down and saying, `Alright, how are we going to do this?' and not waver from it. Everybody talks a good game but when it gets rough and you start changing a plan, that's when it's not the right thing. These last two recruiting classes are certainly the type of guys we've got to have to compete.

"There's got to be some luck involved, too. I've been fortunate to keep the core of our staff together. I think continuity on your staff is important. We're doing things the right way. We've got a tremendous city, a tremendous university. It's a great place to go to school. I think we've proven that we can get the type of player we need; we just need to keep doing it."

On team camaraderie: "We're going to be young in some areas, but there's a closeness that has to occur. I felt like last year maybe we didn't have that tight of a group. No matter what you say, it goes beyond talent. It's a care that's got to exist with people who want to make the group better. Obviously, you've got to have some leaders that can lead your program, in the locker room when the coaches aren't around during the summer program, when it's not easy, when times are tough. I think we've got some good seniors in that regard, so I'd like to think this year that we're going to keep getting better every time we go out on the practice field."

On the importance of summer school and summer conditioning: "It's huge. In the old days, when I was playing and when I first started coaching Division I, you just had however many practices you wanted to have. The NCAA has mandated now that you only get so many practices, no two-a-days in a row, so you can't just show up nowadays and get ready for your opener, whereas in the old days you could. When I first started coaching, it's funny, you kind of pushed them out the door in the summer, get away, it'll be healthy; that's how it was, how people conducted their programs. Now, we have to roll in off the summer program with guys in great shape, guys that have played a lot of football on their own over the summer. They've thrown a lot, run a lot of routes and they're ready to go, so it's crucial."

On the changing culture at CSU: "It's in progress. I need everybody's help. I mean, I need everybody's help. It doesn't matter if you're in charge of facilities, if you're in charge of the budget, our football ops guy, it doesn't matter. You're talking about not just football, but academics and recruiting, life skills, resourcing our program, team travel, one thing after another. We need a lot of help, a lot of people doing their job very, very well.

"When I come to work every day, my job's on the line and I've got to work accordingly. But I'd like to think that the person down the hall is doing the same thing, working like his job's on the line and `We've got to get football to succeed,' and when you have that type of culture, you've got a chance. Without it, you have no chance."

On supporting a freshman QB: "Everybody has to step up their game. You'd like to have that offensive line we had last year, but they're developing. You go through two-a-days and you've got a young offensive line, you'll have some protection breakdowns on some complicated pressure schemes; then, the quarterback doesn't get that rep. So it'll be interesting to see how fast we can develop on the line and how much that helps or retards the progress of the quarterback. And vice versa; if your quarterback's in there doing a bunch of dumb things, the line's got to rep the same stuff over and over. But the backs will help. The receivers played much, much better in the spring. Our offense has got to come on in a lot of different ways, but I like our talent level. Four years from now, we're going to say we've got a quarterback on campus I know we can win a championship with. On the offensive line, I know we lost those guys last year, but I also know we have a group that could be as good or better sitting there in the younger classes. We've got some good, young backs. How it all comes together will be very interesting. A year from now we'll be sitting here with an experienced quarterback, a lot more starters back and probably at that point in time, you'll say we're up and running."

On the role of junior T.J. Borcky: "I see him as one of our starting flankers. He brings some size into the equation. He'll help us block in the run game. Whatever he does at the quarterback spot will develop in camp. We took a look at some things in spring, but spring's so brief. I think in my mind, I'm not going to describe it, but I've got a fairly clear-cut idea of where we want to go. If he does it well and he looks good, we'll evolve it. But if he doesn't, he'll be a smaller part of our offense (at QB). He's a good example of our receivers in general because we're bigger, a little rangier going across the middle."

On T.J.'s brother, Bobby, a true freshman: "Bobby's interesting because Bobby can go on the other side of the ball. He's been here all summer. Obviously, I haven't been out there but I've heard good things. We're going to see where he ends up because he can be a safety for us, look good, put on some weight. We certainly could use him as a receiver as well."

On his expectations: "We're going to try to win the conference championship every year and we're going to try to get to a bowl every year. But I'm not putting a number (of wins) on any of these first four years, I just want to make sure we're getting better. If we do things right, we get better. The university's proven in the past we can compete every year for the conference championship, and even be in that upper three, and that's what we need to do. How far off we are, I don't know. We were quite a ways when I got the job. I hope we're getting closer. We're a perfect example, too, of a team two years ago where if you play well, win a couple tight games, you get yourself in a bowl. Wyoming did it last year.

"It's about winning and losing. We did not play as well as we could've or should've last year. We were very inconsistent. There are a lot of factors that are going to jar a season one way or another, the close games we won two years ago, and last year I don't think we were a very tight team; I'm not sure we cared about each other the way good football teams do. We could cycle up in my fourth year, maybe have 20 starters coming back, but be sitting here a year from now and you get banged up in the right area and all of a sudden you're not as good. But I think what you do is you resource the program, you recruit to it, have staff continuity, cycle up and give yourself a chance to get in there. That's our intent."