Coach Addazio’s rocky start to coaching at CSU, and optimism for the future

As Colorado State University (CSU) football players and staff finished up their spring practices last Friday and departed for the early summer, the one who was last to leave, with an entourage of other coaches, was CSU’s second-year head coach Steve Addazio.

Addazio was born in Farmington, Connecticut, and honed his coaching skills as an offensive line coach under Urban Meyer at Florida. He was then hired by Temple in 2011 as the head coach, where he went 13 - 11 before taking the same role at Boston College in 2013, where he stayed until 2019 with a perfectly even record of 44 - 44 over his seven years in charge

He was then fired by the private Massachusetts school on December 1st, 2019 after a 6 - 6 record in which the Eagles made a bowl game that he didn’t coach in.

Then, on December 11, 2019, CSU announced they had hired Addazio after firing previous head coach Mike Bobo, who had went 28-35 the previous five years.

He’s had a rocky start to his tenure here at CSU as his first season was cancelled due to COVID - 19, then restarted with a shortened schedule. CSU only played four games in 2020 and had a 1-3 record in those games, which is partially due to a new head coach being in charge, since it usually may take upwards of 4 years to fully build a program up for a coach to have their full effect.

However, CSU did win their only home game last season against the rival Wyoming Cowboys with and the final score was 34 to 24 in favor of CSU. The Rams were able to stay with the Bronze Boot, a trophy given to the winner of the CSU - Wyoming game since 1968.

The Boot, as its known in Laramie and Fort Collins, is a tradition that started from CSU’s ROTC program from a member who served in Vietnam. The trophy is modeled after the veteran’s boot during the conflict.

Addazio is excited for the upcoming 2021 season, as he now has the full backing of the CSU Athletic Director, Joe Parker, as well as the CSU players themselves.

            Even through a global pandemic and a shortened first season, he seems excited about the future of CSU football with him at the helm, especially given that CSU invested over $200 million into a new stadium and practice field on the south side of campus.

CSU has been investing heavily into their football program recently, which includes moving into a stadium that was fully on-campus in 2017 compared to one that was a few miles away from campus and has been torn down.

2024 UPDATE - He was fired after going 3 - 9 in the 2021 season, after which CSU brought in former Nevada head coach Jay Norvell.

COVID-19 vaccination efforts in Fort Collins

Passing through the vaccine clinic takes only about half an hour, spending ten minutes in line, then maybe five getting the shot, then fifteen waiting around to see if you react badly to the dose.

            On any given day, more than 2,000 people pass through the average clinic in Larimer County, but officials want that to be way higher, as with every person that passes through, is one more person that helps the community in ending this disease.

As Colorado passes a million people to get fully vaccinated, they plan to move into phase two of its vaccine distribution plan, which allows all people above the age of sixteen to get a shot. So, still early in the process of back to “normal,” but officials say that they are on the right track.

People getting the vaccine at a clinic in Fort Collins were in a pretty happy mood, since they could almost see the end of the pandemic in the US after more than a year of online classes and mask-wearing being normal. With that being said, the transition into college during this time was had been difficult on freshmen, as most classes are online and if a class in in person, most seats are taped off.

For most college students, it changed in a week, from going from positive vibes in early March 2020 to positive tests in middle of the same month as COVID became more spread throughout the month, both in the news and through everyday life.

Colorado State University (CSU) said in a statement in March of 2020 that all classes would be moved online for the foreseeable future, which included the start of the new academic year in August as well as impacting graduation in May. Not much was known about that at the time, but a year after it happened, the masks are still on and the students are still getting sick.

Larimer County only recommends that anyone with health issues and front line workers like doctors and get the vaccine, given they are the most at risk of getting the disease. For anyone else, it is recommended to wait for when eligible to get the vaccine.

This clinic only had the Moderna vaccine available, although there are other types available at other clinics, such as the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine, which is only one dose, and the Pfizer-BioTech vaccine, which is similar to the Moderna vaccine as it takes two doses before one becomes fully immunized.

The Colorado Department of Health says that the vaccine, whichever one that is given, is free and there should not be any charges involved. This is covered by the federal government as they try to prevent the spread of a disease that has killed many throughout the US and Larimer County.

A clinic is not the only the only place to get the vaccine, as many grocery stores and other pharmacies also offer the vaccine, but supplies are limited at those places for now.

2024 Update - A lot has happened with vaccines, but life is pretty much back to normal compared to 2021.

Warm Weather in Fort Collins

FORT COLLINS, CO – In Spring Canyon Park, southwest of downtown Fort Collins, there were a couple of people playing on the fields, but nobody in the biking skills area as it was still too muddy for the pump track.

The park’s namesake of Spring was in the air, as many people were outside taking a breather as they hoped the worst of winter was over.

Relatively hot weather in Fort Collins today meant that a lot of people were outside enjoying it. After snowy weather only a week before, it was now above 60F and sunny.

According to The Weather Channel, the high temperatures were expected to be 59F, but around 2 pm, it was 63F. This warm spell is caused by a departing high pressure air mass, soon to be followed by a low pressure air mass and a cold front in the next few days. That cold front is expected to bring a little bit of rain or snow to Northern Colorado within the next week, possibly on Thursday, according to The Weather Channel.

After a long winter in which it seemed to snow every other day, springtime is right around the corner, so that means that the warm temperatures experienced today are expected to last for a while longer. Also, cold weather may return sporadically, as it still is technically winter until March 21st.  The weather in March is expected to be a lot warmer than February’s was, as a couple days the temperature in Fort Collins dropped well below freezing, even sometimes into the single digits.

According to the National Weather Service, the average high temperatures in March are close to 55OF, so this warm weather isn’t too strange for March in Fort Collins. However, coming out of a cold winter means that many of us are slightly unprepared for the summer months that lie ahead.

The National Weather Service data also says that, between 1981 and 2010, Fort Collins receives almost a foot of snow (12.1”) every March, so this warm weather might not be here to stay for the entire month. But then again, it is Colorado, so for every 60F day theres a 40F one at this time of year.

The National Weather Service data is from NOAA, who collect data from thousands of weather monitors all across the US, including some in Fort Collins.

2024 Update - Not sure why i wrote about weather here to be honest.