Team Appreciates Leadership of New Staff During Quarantine

The search for consistency is maddening at this time.

The rules are not only changing, but the stages are different depending on where one lives. What Colorado State quarterback Patrick O'Brien is dealing with in California is not the same as linebacker Dequan Jackson in Florida. Or even receiver Warren Jackson in Fort Collins.

Some news provides hope. A minute later, a new report may take it away.

While maybe not to the same degree, adversity hits on the football field, too. Coaches will create it in practice, just to prepare their teams. But Colorado State isn't practicing now. Nobody is. And the Rams have only had Steve Addazio around as their head coach for less than five months, so it's not as if they know what to expect from him automatically.

But during the quarantine, they are learning, even if through the channels of technology, not face to face. And what they've deciphered, they like.

"Just how optimistic they are. They're positive," Dequan said of his interactions with members of the coaching staff. "They're determined to get back, and they have faith we're going to get back soon. I think that's the biggest thing that's struck me. I didn't really expect to have meetings as much as we do, every week day, but it shows me the dedication and commitment they have to us and making sure that when the time rolls around that we're all ready and we're all together as a team, despite the distance we have during this quarantine."

Addazio's approach has given Patrick O'Brien confidence, maybe even as much as his new look with a mustache. He didn't know about that, either. He wasn't even sure he could grow facial hair, he said, but now he knows he can.

And he may keep it. Sitting in his car on a video teleconference, he kept touching it, showing he's as fascinated by it as some of his teammates and even fans.

Keep it, they say. And he just might.

Keep plugging, Addazio tells the players, and so does the rest of the staff.

"I think he relays the same message and adds to it a little bit to focus more on the quarterbacks," O'Brien said of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch. "I think all the coaches are doing the same thing. We've had meetings where we're having position meetings with other coaches so we can meet with those guys as well. We're really getting a feel to meet some of the defensive coaches that you don't really talk with that much. It's been positive I think, it's been fun."

With only one returning coaching on staff (Anthony Perkins), the ability to get to know new positions coaches is important for the players. The preferred method is off the table for now, but the video chats have been an aid in the process.

Considering Warren is on his third position coach in his four seasons, he would like to be in tune with Kenny Guiton during a very important season when professional scouts will be tuned in to his performance.

"Obviously we didn't have a lot of time together, but we gained a pretty close relationship through the time we did have," he said. "Being able to just continue that through these videos, it's not much, but it's something. I think it's must needed for this group. Through these meetings, it allows everybody a chance to get to know him well. His phone is always open for us. He lets us know that we can call whenever we want."

For the time being, O'Brien works with some trainers and a few college wideouts he knows in Southern California. Dequan is excited gyms were opened in his home state, allowing him to lift the way he wants, and Warren is working on his personal leadership skills as he and a handful of teammates get in field work on their own as a group.

No matter the personal circumstance, as a team, Addazio keeps them focused on Sept. 5, the date Colorado is scheduled to visit Canvas Stadium for the 2020 season opener. Not once in this time has Addazio veered from the message.

When campus was initially closed, he talked Sept. 5. When quarantine orders were sharpened, it was still about Sept. 5. Fans or no fans, in person or not, California schools open or closed in the fall, it's all about Sept. 5.

As Warren said, the man is persistent. And so much more.

"They just spread a lot of love," he said. "You can feel the love through them, and as a team, we can all feel it, and it's reciprocated. That's something that I truly appreciate."

No matter what happens in the news, be it where the players are currently located or from another part of the country, they've found Addazio is going to be a rock for them. He's telling them he's listening to the experts, and while he wants to return to the practice field or the weight room as much as his players do, he wants to do it the correct way.

What he wants them to know is it is going to happen, and when it does, they'll all be ready. The individual may read it as optimism, or even confidence, but the group agrees the finer point is an important one.

From the new regime, the Rams are sensing true leadership during a rather confusing period of their life.

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