BOULDER — Darrin Chiaverini is ready for Round 2 as the offensive play-caller for the Colorado Buffaloes.
But "ready" might not do full justice to Chiaverini's mindset. Chev is aching to get back on the field. Chomping at the bit. Now one of the senior members of CU's football staff, the Buffs' offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach can't wait to put into motion what he and the rest of the CU staff have been patiently planning throughout the spring and early summer.
Patiently, of course, is a relative term. Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, all of college football from mid-March to now has been limited to meetings via Zoom. For the Buffaloes, it has meant meetings between the coaches, meetings with the entire team, meetings with the offense, meetings with the defense, meetings with special teams, meetings with the position groups, … and then more meetings.
But nary a football has been thrown, caught or kicked in an organized workout. Virtual preparation has been gnawed to the bone.
The actual execution, however, has had to wait. It will be several more weeks — at least — before the Buffs can put any of that preparation and planning into actual physical implementation.
For a guy like Chev, whose motor revs at full speed 24-7, it's been a little trying.
"We've done a lot of meetings now," he said last week. "What's crazy about using Zoom is you feel like you're working twice as hard … But it's been good. We've had a lot of a lot of time to go over our installations, meet with our players. But I'm excited to get back to doing some football."
This will be Chiaverini's second stint as the offensive play caller for the Buffaloes while he works for his third head coach in as many seasons. He was the offensive coordinator under Mike MacIntyre in 2018, the receivers/assistant head coach in 2019 under Mel Tucker, and is now back in the saddle with the playbook and headset under new head coach Karl Dorrell.
It's an opportunity he no doubt relishes. While he did experience some success in his first shot at the duties — particularly early in the 2018 season — he is confident his second go-round will be more productive from beginning to end.
Experience is no doubt the best teacher.
"There's a lot of good things we did and a lot of bad things we did in 2018," Chiaverini said bluntly. "I think when you go back and watch the film, sometimes when you're in the moment, you can't see everything at that certain point. But when you can step back after a season and watch film and see what issues we had, where we could be better — in the run game and protection, helping the quarterback with some RPOs and some certain situations — I think it's a combination of being a better play caller and we have to do a better job coaching them and getting them to play at a higher level. That's the key to winning football games."
One thing Chiaverini said he did learn from 2018 was to make sure and utilize every player on the field in a role that will make them as valuable as possible. It means playing to their strengths and putting them in position to succeed.
"We've had a lot of constructive conversations," he said of meetings with his fellow offensive coaches and Dorrell. "We will build (the offense) around our personnel. Who are our best players and how can we be effective? The thing I learned in 2018 was Laviska Shenault was our best player and I built a lot of it around him. And when he was healthy, we were pretty good. And when he got hurt, we struggled. So I need to do a better job of incorporating other good players in the scheme and building around all of them … I've learned from those experiences and I'll be better and we have to play better all around. I think that's important."
Along with working for his third head coach in three years, Chiaverini will also be working with his third different offensive line coach in that span, Mitch Rodrigue; his third quarterback coach, Danny Langsdorf, who will also serve as passing game coordinator; and another new tight ends coach in Taylor Embree.
But there is at least one familiar face in the offensive meeting room, as running backs coach Darian Hagan is returning.
Chiaverini will be working closely with Langsdorf, who served as an offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach under Mike Riley at Oregon State and Nebraska. It's a relationship that will be critical to developing the offensive identity, and so far, Chiaverini said the two have worked well together.
"Danny and I hit it off right away," he said. "When he first got hired, we had many conversations talking about putting this offense together and what I thought we could do. I know what this roster has, and I know what guys can and can't do. We had a lot of candid conversations about the quarterback and about offensive philosophy and where we want to take this thing. And I think it's going to be a really good working relationship. He's got a ton of history of calling plays and also coaching the quarterback position."
But while Chiaverini is a former receiver — Dorrell was his position coach in the Rick Neuheisel era in Boulder — and Langsdorf is a quarterback guru, they both know the Buffs have to do one thing much better this year to have a chance to succeed.
Run the ball. Good, old-fashioned smash-mouth ball — at least enough to keep the defense honest and give play-action calls for the quarterback a legitimate chance to succeed.
"There's still going to be tempo involved in our offense," Chiaverini said. "But I think you have to mix and match tempo. There were games (in 2018) where people weren't stopping us at all. And then there were games where we struggled … (But) I do think we have to be better in the run game in 2020. We have to be better running the football. I think I have to incorporate more play action for us to help out the quarterback position … So we have to be a little more balanced. I would say run the football better and be better in the play action."
These are all the things the CU staff have been talking about since March. They have met and talked, planned and plotted, installed the offense, talked with players and incorporated film study into their lesson plans. They have basically done everything possible to get the Buffs ready for the season — except for the most important part.
They have yet to have a single practice in the Karl Dorrell era. Sooner or later — preferably sooner — they will finally get that opportunity.
When that happens, you can bet Chiaverini will be the first guy on the field, going a mile a minute.
"We're excited to start doing some real football," Chiaverini said. "You can only do so many meetings. You want to start practicing."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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Woelk: Chiaverini Back In The Saddle As Play-Caller - University of Colorado Athletics - CUBuffs.com
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