There is a different name being beckoned to the scene this year when a Colorado football player sprains an ankle or pulls a muscle on the practice fields during fall camp and during games this season.
Adam Holliday has taken over as head athletic trainer for football after serving as an assistant to Miguel Rueda the past five seasons. Rueda has juggled all the administrative duties of overseeing an athletic training staff as well as serving as head trainer since August 2006.
Rueda was named associate athletic director for health and performance in the spring.
“A lot more goes through your mind,” Holliday said. “You have to be aware of everything that is going on. As an assistant, you’re almost like an assistant coach. You worry about your area and your responsibilities, but as the head guy, you have to be aware of everything that is going on. So your head is constantly working and making sure you are doing everything that you can for the guys.”
Holliday graduated from Kansas in 2002 (no one is holding it against him at CU) and actually began his career at Colorado as an intern for the 2004-05 academic year. Holliday earned his master’s degree in sports management from Minnesota in 2007 and also worked as a graduate assistant trainer with the Golden Gophers. He spent three seasons at Texas before coming back to Colorado in 2010.
“I’ve been around the players and know all the players and I’ve been around the coaches and everything, so it’s been a smooth transition for me just knowing the staff and everything,” Holliday said.
The art of holding
When spring practices ended in March, CU coaches thought they had found their holder for field goals and extra points in Ty Gangi, a walk-on quarterback from Glendale, Ariz. But Gangi opted to transfer to a Ventura College this summer where he will have a better chance of playing quarterback.
“I lost two holders in less than a year,” special teams coach Toby Neinas said.
That leaves CU coaches once again watching a competition among three players to serve as holder in 2015. Neinas said wide receivers Robert Orban, Jay MacIntyre and Colin Johnson are doing well in competing for the job. MacIntyre and Johnson are both former high school quarterbacks.
The job is complicated this year by the fact that the two players competing to be the placekicker — Chris Graham (right) and Diego Gonzalez (left) kick with different feet. That means the holders must be adept at the job from both sides.
“That’s a big challenge,” Neinas said.
Neinas said the get-off times from field goals are not what he would like them to be yet, but they are improving each day.
Coaches move in
Colorado football coaches moved into their new offices in the Champions Center Tuesday at noon and by late-afternoon MacIntyre was already busy watching film in his new home.
MacIntyre said he stopped and looked out a large window in his office that overlooks Folsom Field with a stellar view of the Flatirons and marveled at the beauty he is suddenly spoiled by each day.
“It was a good stress relief to say the least,” MacIntyre said.
Oliver finds home
MacIntyre said freshman Isaiah Oliver is now playing cornerback exclusively after starting camp practicing at both cornerback and wide receiver. He is also in the mix to return kicks for the Buffs this season.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.dailycamera.com/sports/ci_28629470/cu-football:-adam-holliday-moves-into-head-athletic-trainer-role