Brian Howell | Colorado Buffaloes Beat Writer, Buffzone

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One-year upgrade requires financing, qualifying, device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Right now we're pleased to welcome Brian Howell to the show and he is a beat writer who's in the spotlight getting a lot more attention these days because the Buffaloes are all the rage. For the Buffzone and the Boulder Daily camera, Brian is covering Deion's tenure. Let's go back to say the last month, the start of the college football season.

Brian, what's it been like around the Buffaloes and around Boulder? Yeah, super crazy. We thought that the offseason was fairly crazy, but then you started getting into the season and each week it just kind of hit us to like, okay wow, this is kind of a big time circus. But really, once we got to TCU and you saw the madness there with a big new kickoff was there for that game and then the postgame was just kind of crazy and the way they won that football game and it's just kind of growing with each win that they've had. Last weekend to have college game day there and big new kickoff and Lil Wayne singing is the best run out of the field.

I'm hearing this song and I'm like, that's interesting, I've never heard that for an entrance. I look down and I'm like, wait, Lil Wayne is on the field right now? And the rock is on the field? So all these things are happening and I'm like, what are we living in right now? So it's just been crazy. What would you say, other than just the circus atmosphere, is the biggest change in culture with Deion Sanders as the head coach? Well, that's the fascinating thing is that there's all of this hype, all the things surrounding him, the spotlight, all those things, but the biggest change is really the football team. They're a good football team, they've got more talent and they believe. One thing he has done, he's a master motivator and he's got these guys to believe and they believe in his message, they believe in the staff, they believe in what they're doing and I've never been around a more confident Colorado football team. This is my 14th year covering them.

I've never been around a team that has been this confident. Brian Howell is the Colorado Buffalo's beat writer for Buff Zone in the Boulder Daily Camera and we're pleased to have him with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. I have to ask this, is he filming a documentary? Why is there always a camera to capture these moments where he's yelling at his team about getting in on the fight or he's asking them to repeat back to him? It's personal, there's always a camera. Yeah, the main reason is that he just likes everything to be recorded and he's always been that way, but they are filming a documentary. Amazon Prime did a documentary on his last season at Jackson State and they're filming one right now on his first season in Colorado, so they've actually interviewed me for it.

But they've been there from spring, all summer, they're here right now, they've been around all over the place. In the press conference room, there's a sign outside of it that says, just be warned, you could be on camera anything that happens in here, so if you don't like that, don't come in. Aside from that is Dion Junior and a couple other people that are close to Dion film their own things with their cell phones and other cameras for their YouTube channels and Dion loves that. He likes to promote all those things, likes the transparency, and it's really helped some of those guys grow their YouTube channels as well. So in no way is that a distraction for the team, for the coach to have cameras, almost like it's a nonstop heart knocks. For Dion, of course, he's used to it. That's something that he's grown up with, whether it's Florida State, the NFL.

He actually had, I didn't even realize this, I actually stumbled upon it today, but he had a reality show on Oprah's network 8 or 10 years ago, so this is just his life. I think it's probably some of the players that were there in the spring and it's been well documented that 40 or 50 some players from the spring are no longer here. I think for some of them it was probably shock and maybe that's part of why they left, but everyone that's here now, they know what they're getting into because they've seen it for months.

The 50 some guys that arrived in the summer, they knew what they were getting into and Dion keeps telling us a lot of these guys, that's why they're here. They want all this. They want the exposure.

They want all these things. So I think a lot of the guys from what we're seeing have really embraced it and they love it. Are you surprised at the fact that opposing coaches and other teams keep walking into the trap, the personal trap, the motivational trap for Dion? Yeah, especially for Colorado State last week. We started with Nebraska and what CU did with that and kind of made it personal. And then for CSU's coaches that last week, it was kind of like, what are you doing?

And I get it in some respects. The whole thing last week was Colorado and Colorado State's not even being talked about. He got Colorado State talked about.

I think he could have gone about it a different way by not taking a personal shot, but he did what he wanted to do and Colorado State responded and played a pretty good football game. So maybe when that happens, maybe other coaches will say, hey, maybe I can get my team to do that as well. How have you seen the fan base respond to the circus? Well, I'll just talk about tickets. People that have worked at CU told me that they used to have in previous seasons, they call them back pocket tickets. Because there was people that worked at the university that they would say, just take some tickets, put them in your back pocket and give them out when you see people because they were trying to get people there.

Well, that doesn't happen anymore. And now they're actually dealing with a new issue where people are using counterfeit tickets to try to get into the game because they don't have tickets. We've gone from back pocket tickets to counterfeit tickets and students camping out for tickets last week.

Yeah, the fan base is insane. We used to kind of joke with the students, certain games like, will they arrive by the end of the first quarter or not? Well, both home games so far, as soon as the gates have opened, we see the students pour into the stadium and they're eating it up. They're all in there like an hour before kickoff and, you know, Chidoor and Travis Hunter, all those guys are kind of playing into the crowd and they love it. Brian Howell is with us from Boulder talking about the phenomenon that is now Buffalo's football, or as I call it, the Boulder Buzz. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk about the game against Colorado State.

You mentioned Travis Hunter. We know the Henry Blackburn, the Colorado State safety has received death threats. I thought it was classy of Dion to say that's ridiculous. Knock it off. But what's your reaction to that whole situation? Yeah, I did think it was a dirty play.

He certainly doesn't deserve death threats for it. I thought it was a dirty play. I think Colorado State's I don't know if it was their game plan or not, but I don't know if it's if it was something the coaches talked about, but certainly some of the players clearly had a chip on their shoulder and wanted to be a little chippy. You know, and they were. I mean, they had 18 penalties or something like that for almost 200 yards. A lot of personal foul. So they were clearly, I think, trying to get under C.U.

's skin. And they did a little bit. And I think that that one hit went a little too far.

And I don't think there was intent to actually send Travis Hunter to the hospital, maybe send a message, but it kind of went a little too far. But it's unfortunate that happened that way. What is that relationship with Dion and his sons like under this microscope? They're so close. I mean, that's been one of the fascinating things about him is he's such a family man. And that family is so close. I mean, his oldest daughter is on her own. I don't know where she lives, but four of the five kids are here at C.U. with him and three of them are students at C.U.

Wow. His sister is his assistant and her her desk is right outside his office. He's moved his mom here.

The family is super close and he talks all the time about how much he appreciates having his sons there. Before every game, he kind of walks from the 40 to the goal line with Chidor and then back. And they always say that, you know, as he walks down, it's dad.

As they walk back, it's coach. You know, he and Shiloh had a nice moment after Shiloh picked six the other night. And Deon admitted, hey, there's a few times a game I have a dad moment. That was a dad moment. He's definitely a proud dad. That is really neat.

All right. So coming up are a couple of pretty stiff tests inside the Pac-12 on the road at No. 10 Oregon. And then the USC game the week after that. What are the biggest changes in terms of the way the team plays on the field? Yeah, offensively, certainly is the biggest change because they were horrible the last couple of years. And Chidor has 10 touchdown passes, which is the amount that CU had last year and the year before.

So we're more confident they're going to score. I mean, I mean, last week when they got pinned at the two yard line, last year's team might have gotten to the 10. You know, but Chidor leads them on a 98 yard drive.

So that's the biggest difference is offensively. They have a quarterback now and, you know, Chidor legitimately might be in the running for it to be the best quarterback CU's ever had. I mean, they haven't had a ton of really good ones over the years, but, you know, Cordell Stewart was there.

Koy Detmer was there. So Chidor might actually be the best quarterback they've ever had. And that's been the biggest difference, frankly. When you think about this matchup against Oregon, what factors do you think will determine the winner? Yeah, they've got to play better up front. Their lines have struggled. The offensive line is not great.

And, you know, Chidor's been, if he's not the most stacked, he's the second most stacked quarterback in the country. The running game has not really gotten on track. And their best running back they have not had yet this season.

Alton McCaskill, the transfer from Houston, and he might play this weekend, we'll find out. But they have to get that line going. They have to protect Chidor and run the football. But they also have to start better. You know, they had that great game against TCU, but they really haven't started strong offensively the last two weeks. And it's kind of put them in a little bit of a, well, put them in a hole last week against CSU. And really, they sputtered and didn't really get going until the third quarter against Nebraska.

So they would like to get a better start. I think if they start slow at Oregon, I think they're going to lose that football game. What will be the greatest impact of the move from the Pac-12, which may or may not survive, back to the Big 12? I think recruiting is probably going to be the biggest thing because they've always wanted to recruit Texas. And, you know, with them going to the Big 12 now and being able to play more games in Texas, I think that's going to help them get more recruits. Now, they've done a pretty good job in Texas in recent years, but I think that's only going to help. And it also, you know, Dion loves his Florida guys.

You know, he talks about that all the time. And Central Florida is down there, and it's only one school. But I think it's going to help them maybe even get some of those Florida guys that he likes a lot. The move itself is just one piece of this puzzle that's happening with conference realignment. Again, mention having covered Colorado for a long time.

So you've seen iterations of realignment now. The Pac-12, how can they save it? Yeah, actually, my first year covering CU, they were in the Big 12, so full circle. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens with the Pac-12.

It's unfortunate. It's been a really fun conference to cover. I'll miss it for sure. But certainly, at this point, there's only two teams that are left as we look ahead to next year.

I'm curious to see what will happen. I think my belief is that those two teams, Oregon State and Washington State, will somehow merge with the Mountain West schools and whether they're called the Mountain West or the Pac-Mountain or the Pac-12 or whatever it is, I think the Pac-12 name could survive just because it's a stronger brand than the Mountain West. But it's unfortunate to see what's happened to that conference. It's been a good conference, and it's funny now that the football profile right now is probably as good as it's been in a long time. Yeah, and it's not just football. As much as conference realignment, it's about that sport, maybe men's basketball, too. There's so many other student-athletes that are caught up in the transition, too. So, at this point, will anything still surprise you about Deion and his program?

No, I don't think so. Some of us have actually joked, like, okay, what's the next step? What's the next level for crazy in this? And we kind of joke, like, all right, if he gets Taylor Swift to perform a halftime show at some point, then we know what's going on. Fantastic. And we don't put anything past him. Once you see Lil Wayne out there rapping in the rocks, who knows?

He could do anything at this point. Oh, I love it. That's awesome. All right, well, you can find Brian on Twitter at BrianHowell33. Long time covering Colorado football, but nothing quite like this.

For BuffZone and the Boulder Daily Camera, I'm sure you get many requests. So, Brian, thank you for a couple of minutes. You bet.

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