Odd...CU Coach sends 5 thugs packing, including their sack leader last year. They didn't get in trouble with the law (as far as I know...at least while at CU), they just didn't display enough evidence of having the right attitude and/or weren't doing what they should be doing academically:
</font><h1 id="articleTitle" ="articleTitle">Embree sends five CU players packing, names Hansen starting QB</h1><div id="articleDate" ="articleDate">Posted:04/13/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT</div>
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</span><div ="articleCaption" style="width: 100%;">Defensive
end Forrest West, left, pressures quarterback Tyler Hansen during
spring drills. That was West's specialty at CU. He led the team with 5
1/2 sacks in 2010 despite starting only one game. He and four other
Buffs were asked to leave the program.
(Andy Cross, The Denver Post )</div></div></div></span><div id="article" ="article"><div ="articleViewerGroup" id="articleViewerGroup" style="border: 0px none;"></span></span></span></div></span>
On
a day when Colorado's starting quarterback was named after spring
practice for the first time in six years, two key members of last year's
team were asked to leave the program.
Tuesday's christening of returning starter Tyler Hansen at
quarterback has been obvious since the end of the 2010 season. However,
he'll be without one deep threat, and the defense will miss its sack
leader.
First-year coach Jon Embree told junior receiver Will Jefferson,
junior defensive end Forrest West and three others they will not be part
of the program. Last week, Embree said a number of players have not
shown a commitment.
Leading up to Saturday's spring game, Embree said, "If they can't
play and are not doing what they're supposed to do academically and
they're not doing some other things and buying into the program, they
won't be here."
Jefferson caught 14 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. Filling in
at tailback at midseason he rushed 23 times for 137 yards. West started
only one game but led the 5-7 Buffaloes with 5 1/2 sacks among his 19
tackles.
Also asked to leave were senior guard Max Tuioti-Mariner and redshirt
freshman tight ends Henley Griffon and Harold Mobley, a cousin of
former Bronco John Mobley.
In a statement, Embree said, "We will work with them to see if we can place them elsewhere."
The one player who had to return is Hansen, who could have earned a
most valuable player honor from spring practice. He had very little
competition, with redshirt freshman Nick Hirschman and junior college
transfer Brent Burnette struggling much of the spring, and Hansen was
sharp the entire month.
Hansen doesn't have to worry about his status this summer after battling Cody Hawkins the past two falls.
"Now that it's official, I can get to real work and organize these
7-on-7 sessions in the summer," Hansen said by phone. "Keep getting guys
going."
Hansen was never the biggest of Colorado's problems last year. He hit
122-of-164 passes (.683) for 1,102 yards, six touchdowns and six
interceptions in seven games. He missed the last five games with a
ruptured spleen.
The overall offense, however, struggled. Colorado finished 10th in
the Big 12 in offense (359.7 yards per game) and ninth in scoring (24.2
points per game). Now Hansen loses his All-America left tackle in Nate
Solder and the school's all-time leading receiver in Scotty McKnight.
A lot of Embree's success will depend on Hansen.
"The biggest thing I could work on is move the ball on offense,"
Hansen said. "Too many times, we killed ourselves with penalties. As a
quarterback, you have to take that on your own shoulders."
Now all Hansen has to do is appease fans who felt Dan Hawkins'
recruitment of his son prevented Colorado from landing a four- or
five-star quarterback.
"I feel I just have to prove something to myself," Hansen said. "My
biggest goal is to finish healthy and play all 13 games. If I do that,
I'll quell the doubters."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, Patrick Orms, who was slated to start at Safety last year as a true freshman but injured his knee and was out for the year, sat out Spring ball but is now listed as one of the starting
cornerbacks on their depth chart.
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