The second year of the Ed McCaffrey era at Northern Colorado is off to an inauspicious start.
UNC has never been close to a contender in the Big Sky Conference after joining the league in 2006. The former Division II powerhouse have won 39 games total, including just 26 against fellow Big Sky foes.
After just two winning seasons in nine years (their only winning seasons since moving to DI), Northern Colorado fired head coach Earnest Collins Jr. after the 2019 season and brought in McCaffrey, a star wide receiver who played 13 seasons in the NFL and won three Super Bowls, including two with John Elway and the Denver Broncos.
McCaffrey coached at Valor Christian High in the Denver area previous to taking the UNC head job leading into the 2020/21 spring campaign. UNC, like Saturday’s opponent Montana State, did not participate in the spring season.
Last fall, McCaffrey flooded his roster with transfers, including many he had previously coached during their prep days at one of Colorado’s top football factories. One of those recruits happened to be a former four-star recruit. That quarterback also happens to be the head coach’s son.
A year and a half into the McCaffrey experiment, the name has delivered plenty of shallow interest in the Northern Colorado football program, certainly a rarity during UNC’s short Division I history. The off-season leading up to this year included several dozen Bears entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, including productive linebacker Jace Bobo (UNC’s leading tackler) and freshman running back Gene Sledge Jr., the Bears’ leading rusher last season.
The Bears filled some of those spots with new transfers. But the season got off on a tough note as UNC fell 46-34 to a Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) team that did not win a game in 2021, got off the snide.
Northern Colorado did mount consecutive wins earlier this year — marking the first time that’s occurred under McCaffrey) — when the Bears defeated Lamar 21-14 and beating Idaho State 35-14 for their first and only conference victory.
“They do have some really good players and they’ve been playing without a bunch of guys as well,” Montana State head coach Brent Vigen said. “They beat Idaho State, took care of them in the fourth quarter. They played with Wyoming (a 33-10 UNC loss) until the fourth quarter really.
QUICK HITS
Location: Greeley, Colorado
Nickname: Bears
Founded: 1889
Enrollment: 12,084
Stadium: Nottingham Field seats 8,533. Built in 1995, it’s hosted two D-II national championship teams from Northern Colorado. UNC has averaged 4,855 fans in two home games this season.
Famous alumni: James Michener, author; Chesley Sullenberger, pilot; Justin Gaethje, mixed martial artist; Vincent Jackson, wide receiver
THE COACH
Ed McCaffrey (second season at Northern Colorado, 2-4 this year; 5-12 overall)
McCaffrey is certainly the most famous coach in the Big Sky, thanks to his 13-year NFL career that saw him win three Super Bowls and go to one Pro Bowl with the Denver Broncos.
He retired after the 2003 season but didn’t start his coaching career until 2018, when he was named the head coach at Denver-area powerhouse Valor Christian High School. Northern Colorado plucked him away from the Eagles after two years, a big-time gamble that instantly gave the Bears more attention than they’d had in years. They’re betting that his name recognition and recruiting potential will outweigh his inexperience.
McCaffrey brought his oldest son Max, a former Duke wide receiver, with him to Greeley as the offensive coordinator, and a younger son, Dylan, transferred from Michigan to be the quarterback.
In his first year, the Bears won three games, more than the program won in a full season in both 2018 and 2019. UNC is 2-4 this season.
OFFENSE – PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Dylan McCaffrey, 6-5, 220, Gr.
McCaffrey’s oldest brother Max, as previously mentioned, played wide receiver at Duke and went on to bounce around the NFL for multiple years. His other older brother is Christian McCaffrey, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Stanford and 2019 Pro Bowler at running back for the Carolina Panthers.
Dylan was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and picked Michigan, where he played in 13 games for the Wolverines over 2018 and 2019.
After not playing in 2020, he came to the Bears as one of the most high-profile transfers to hit the Big Sky in the last decade.
At 6-foot-5, he’s a pro-framed pocket passer. But last season, he threw for 133 yards per game, managing five touchdown passes to go with seven interception before missing the final few games of the season with an injury.
This season, he is throwing for 135 yards per game and has five touchdowns against four interceptions.
“He can make all kinds of throws, I know that,” Vigen said.
WR Kassidy Woods, 6-4, 220, junior
The former four-star recruit is one of a variety of former FBS transfers who dot Northern Colorado’s roster. He was one of McCaffrey’s favorite target last season but has had to fight for more opportunities this year. He has caught 14 passes for 150 yards and is without a touchdown.
Elijah Dotson, running back, 6-0, 200, graduate transfer – In 2018, Dotson became the first Sacramento State running back since Charles Roberts in 2000 to earn first-team All-Big Sky honors. Yes, that Sac State.
Dotson was an All-American for the Hornets in 2019 as well as Sac State surged to their first-ever Big Sky title. Last year, Dotson shut it down after four games, preserving this year of eligibility he’s using at a different conference school.
Dotson was the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week earlier this year. He’s UNC’s leading rusher with 353 yards and three touchdowns.
THE DEFENSE – PLAYERS TO WATCH
Elijah Anderson-Taylor, linebacker, 6-0, 235, sophomore — The stout sophomore made his first career start last season against Montana State. This season, he had zero tackles in UNC’s opener against Houston Baptist, yet still already has 62 tackles. He’s had at least 12 tackles five games in a row.
Nick Norris, defensive lineman, 6-4, 262, sophomore — The defensive lineman leads UNC with three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“Defensively, that’s where they have lost some guys but they are playing hard,” Vigen said. “They’ve shown a lot of different looks throughout the course of the season. And that’s always a challenge.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez and Attributed. All Rights Reserved.
