College is a scary proposition, but so is college football. Combining the two would make any high school athlete feel genuinely sheepish stepping into a Pac-12 school, on both the academic and athletic fronts.
To combat the problem, or if it happened unknowingly, the Buffs found themselves wrangling in a number of teammates and siblings in this year’s class. Four different sets of teammates, including a pair of twins, with be coming to Colorado and helping each other ease the transition away from home and into the gauntlet that is Division I football.
“Colorado is a unique program in that we have three kids in-state this year and last year we had two, so there are 25 kids in this class that are leaving home,” said Embree.
Of the teammates, there are Jeromy and Sean Irwin, twins from Cypress, Texas. Also the Buffs signed the proclaimed DC3 from H.D. Woodson High School in Washington D.C. including Kenneth Crawley, John Walker, De’Jon Wilson. And finally two pairs of teammates from the west coast; from Upland, California, came Donta Abron, Marques Mosley and Christian Powell, and from Westlake Village, California, was Justin Solis and Johnny Stuart.
But what does not get talked about enough is the popularly wrong consensus of a seemingly trivial fact that these student athletes are leaving home for the first time and they are also prone to getting home sick. So Embree is more than just the football coach for many of these student athletes.
“They can say all they want, they're all tough, and then they're in my office on my couch talking about momma and the dog and everybody else that they miss,” said Embree, who treats and takes care of all 105 players like their his own kids. “They all go through it, so it will help having other teammates.”
Being around a familiar face will likely calm the nerves of several of the players. And the camaraderie brought together by fighting for a sole cause, with 28 new faces and personalities will be an interesting dynamic.
“They’re really good kids,” said Embree. “That locker room downstairs is about to change.”
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