Rick George, Colorado Athletic Director

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Find it wherever you buy laundry products. Rick, I appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this, and how are you? I'm great, Zach. Thanks for having me on. I look forward to our conversation.

Yeah, so let me start you off with this. We've talked a lot about your program this year, but going back to last year, we did a lot of topics and a lot of days of, should Deion Sanders get a power five job in college football? And I've always said, why not? I thought he was going to get hired by the SEC. He lands, though, with you guys. When you were going through this search and trying to build this from the ground up, when did you say to yourself, okay, we need Deion Sanders, and why did you think that? Well, look, the first day we started the search, he was number one on the list. So that's where we started, and certainly had a lot of other candidates to interview and talk to, but I know when he and I had the opportunity to meet face to face, and when I walked out of his house, I knew that this was the guy that we needed to have, that he would turn this program around quickly, and he'd bring an energy level that was necessary and needed for where we were with our program. So it's a two-way street, as you know, just because you want Coach Prime, didn't necessarily mean that he wanted you guys.

When did you feel, all right, it's going to take two to tangle here, and now we're starting to dance a little bit? Yeah, look, I mean, I think from, we didn't talk a lot, a lot of people in these searches talk a lot, but we didn't talk a lot. He was really focused on what he wanted to do at Jackson State, and I respected that.

A lot of text messages, and here's what the field looks like today, and here's the crowd that we have with a one in seven team, and things like that. And we had some mutual friends that were helpful, and here we are. It's a beautiful campus. My sister, a few years ago, along with her husband, and now my niece, they moved to Centennial, which is not that far from Boulder, as you know. But if someone, let's say, is listening to you for the first time, and they know a lot about Colorado now, and they're like, oh, why should I want to come to school here? Why should I want to be a part of this athletic program?

What would you tell them about the campus a little bit? Well, look, I mean, there's very few campuses that sit a mile, a mile and a half from the Rocky Mountains and have that backdrop. And if you love outdoors and skiing and hiking and all the things, the rafting and those kind of things, this is a great place. The climate's fantastic. You can get four seasons in one day here.

That happens. But you can get snow, and two days later, it's gone. And the summers are great, and the fall is beautiful, and the weather is great.

So that's one thing. Then we've got this great institution that kind of sits in the foothills of the Rockies. And it's a great campus, great leadership, great academics, and it's a safe community.

And it's a great place to live and to be. And this is my second time back here, and I'm really happy where we are right now. So, when you're building this, as Rick George, the AD of Colorado, joins us right now, I think there's a lot of people that just jump on this season, and they forget where you guys were a year ago, only one win. I would imagine that you guys would have signed up for four and four, but with how good of a start it was, three and oh, now some people are starting to doubt Colorado.

Where is this program heading? So with that being said, I know that this is a successful season regardless of how these final four games go, but how do you kind of look back at this season so far with some good and some bad as you go through a football season? Look, Coach and I have the same expectations, right? We both wanted to win every game. We wanted to dominate. We wanted to win.

That's just who he is and who I am. Certainly feel good about where we are and where we're headed. You know, this is just the start. I believe in what we're doing, and I believe in what Coach is doing.

You know, this is just the start of something big, and I think the future is incredibly bright. I'm looking forward to playing Oregon State this weekend and letting the chips fall where they may, but I know we're going to compete. We're going to get after it, and we're going to have a great sellout crowd. Every place we played this year, home wore away has been sold out. That's kind of a testament to Coach Prime and the interest in him.

You know, are there people that want us to fail? Of course, but there's also a lot of people that want us to succeed, and we're seeing that with viewership numbers and crowds that we're seeing every place that we play. So, this is the question that I'm sure you've already been asked 9,000 times already this season, and it happens when you're winning and you're having this excitement like we're talking about, and it's a compliment to what you guys have done this year at Colorado, but how do you make sure that Coach Prime stays more than just a year or two, and he's here for a few years in Colorado? Look, we had a, you know, before we got here, we had a really candid discussion about what Colorado was, what we had, what we didn't have, and I think having those discussions and trusting each other from the start is important. I think our relationship, you know, we'll have those discussions about what are the needs that we have, and my job is to make sure that he has the resources necessary to win a national championship and to win a Big 12 championship next year, and those kind of things.

And so, you know, I have high expectations that he'll be here for a while, and I would hope that he would be here for a long time because I think he'll set win records here and he'll do some things that haven't been done at Colorado in a long time. For you, I'm just wondering on a personal level, and I know that you could probably answer this question by saying a lot, but what have you really learned from Coach Prime just being around him for this past year or so? You know, what I've learned is, you know, he is who he is, and I embrace that. He's authentic, he's real, he says what's on his mind, and I support that, and I think that's important. I mean, he's a guy that has great core values for himself, and it's about family, faith, accountability, discipline, all of those things that speak to me, and, you know, I've learned a lot from him. He stays the course. You know, he addresses issues, good or bad, doesn't shy away from them, and I think that's important. Yeah, that's why, like, when he made the comment last week about the offensive line, I was like, people don't remember the first speech to the team. He's going to do things his way, and he doesn't apologize for it, nor should he, because it's worked out so far. Like, yeah, you got to develop players. He knows how to develop players, but in the world of the transfer portal right now, it'd be foolish to not try to really dive deep in there and get as many talented players as possible. No, look, I mean, you know, that was about the only thing that I was surprised at was his conversation with the team the first time.

You know, I was like, oh, boy. But, you know, that kind of set the tempo for where he was going, and I appreciate that, and there were some people that took offense to that, but, you know, that's who he is. He's a winner.

He's going to win here. You know, but the thing that is great about him is he wants to develop these young men to be great citizens when they're done playing football, whether it's at Colorado or in the NFL, and, you know, he spends a lot of time on that, and I think that's important, too, and it's not just about wins and losses. It's about developing young men, and he tells their parents that, and he does what he says he's going to do, and, gosh, who wouldn't want that? I know he said that he doesn't have interest in coaching in the NFL, but just because he says that, a lot of times people don't listen. You know, NFL teams are going to come calling.

Do you genuinely believe that he will never consider the NFL when they come calling this offseason? Look, you know, I believe what he says, and, you know, that's in almost a year now that we've known each other, a little more than a year that we've known each other now. You know, he does what he says he's going to do, and if that's what he says, I believe him, and, you know, let's move on to the next thing, and, you know, for us, it's about Oregon State this weekend, and we've got three more games. Recruiting is coming up, and, again, the future, as I look at it, is extremely bright. Rick George, before we let you run, you've got a few more things I want to ask you.

The AD at Colorado. We all have read about what happened at the Rose Bowl this past week in the locker room when your players were playing. They had items, jewelry that was stolen. Just what did you say to your kids afterwards, and I know it was a road game, but how do you try to prevent these things from happening moving forward? Look, we'll tighten up our security, and, look, the Rose Bowl's a first-class organization, and, you know, whatever our student athletes lost, we'll make sure that, you know, that we make sure that they're whole when this is all done, and it's really hard with personal items, but, again, you know, we're going to do what's right for our student athletes, and it's unfortunate, you know, that that happened, but, you know, we'll focus on, you know, moving ahead, and, you know, we'll make sure that we tighten up our security when we're on the road, and we'll tighten it up at home for our opponents as well because we certainly don't want that to happen to one of our guests. I remember when you were in this interview process, and you had these conversations with Coach Prime, I think last year, I remember you saying you were on the college football playoff selection committee, so you'd be flying, and then you eventually got the phone call, and you had a very good flight on your way to one of these meetings. I'm just wondering, what are those meetings like? Because we all see the rankings come out last night, and people are like, oh, is this done to get a reaction out of people? You've been a part of those meetings. How do you kind of describe that scene inside the college football playoff committee war room, I guess you could say? Well, what I would tell you is that, you know, everybody's focused, everybody has different opinions, and, you know, we all come to the conclusion at the end about, you know, what's the right thing, and, you know, we get criticized a lot, but, you know, at the end of the day, I think the work of that committee in the 10 years that they've been out there, their work at the end of the year, and everybody reacts to the first one, but their work at the end of the year always proves to be pretty solid. What's been your reaction to the scandal that has hit college football right now with this Michigan sign-stealing scheme right now?

Well, look, I mean, you know, I don't know what to say to that, you know, because you don't know the facts and you don't know everything that's out there, and certainly, you know, when the dust settles, I think we can all have our own opinions, but I know Ward Manuel is a good man at Michigan and the athletic director, and as always, he'll do the right thing, and we'll let the NCAA and the Big Ten figure out, you know, all of that and where that goes. All right, before we let you run, we now live in a world where it's like you only get tickets on your phones. Like I go to a Super Bowl now, and I go, I miss the big ticket. You go to a big game and you don't get those tickets, so it's neat what you guys are doing with this commemorative ticket for this season and also the 100th season and Coach Prime's first season, so tell people a little bit more about it. Well, there's the ticket right there.

Oh, nice. That's the first one, so we have a different one for every game, and with it being the 100th year of Folsom Field and the beginning of Coach Prime era, we thought it was important to have a hard ticket that our fans could get, and we think there will be a lot of interest in that. We have a different person on the ticket each game, and there's different former athletes that are on that, and then there's some history behind that game that's on the back of that ticket, so the people that want to buy those tickets, we're making them available on our website because old people like me like to have things in hard form, so we're excited about that ticket, and I think our fans will really enjoy having these tickets from this year. Last thing I'll ask you, no one really knew what to expect from this team this season. When you get off to a 3-0 start, people expect a bowl game. Now, you're 4-4 with four games remaining. If you don't win two more, you don't get ball eligibility, would you consider this year an appointment?

No. I think this year, Coach brought a team together in a short period of time, and I think what he's done already has been significant, and I think what we'll do in the next four games and in recruiting will set us up again for the next year, and we're going to go out there every game and expect to win, and if we don't, we'll find out why we didn't, and we'll make the fixes, and we'll go on to the next one, but I'm just excited about the future. I'm excited about these last four games, and I believe that we'll be in a bowl game. Alrighty. Well, I appreciate the time. Thanks so much. It's been really fun talking about your program, excited to see what happens these next four games.

Hopefully, we get a bowl game, and he, of course, is Rick George, the AD at Colorado. Rick, thanks so much for doing this. Good luck. Thank you. Appreciate it, Zach. You got it. There he is, Rick George, the AD from Colorado. Really good conversation with him, and we've got to talk to Coach Prime right when the season started, and now we get a chance to talk to the AD in Rick George.