Just to keep any of you interested updated with how things have gone for my son at CSU-Pueblo. He made it through fall camp mostly healthy but rolled his ankle badly on the 4th day of practice. He missed a full week of practice and the first scrimmage because of it. He was voted a single-digit number and captain by his teammates at the end of fall camp. We were obviously proud of him for that, and he takes real pride in it as well. He says his teammates knowing he works his ass off for them is one of the most important things in this whole deal.
He was ejected for a bullshit targeting call in the middle of the 3rd quarter of the 2nd game against UTPB. I thought this was actually a worse call than the one he got last year, but nonetheless, he missed 3.5 quarters because of it. Came back in the next game against Grand Valley State and rolled his ankle again mid-way through the 3rd quarter. He didn't even suit out for the next game, so he was practically already down 9 quarters after 4 games. Played very sparingly in the 5th game of the season, but after that, the ankle stayed farily healthy, and he ended upleading the team in tackles each week for the last 6 games of the season. They won the conference outright and had the 1 seed in Region 4, which meant a first-week bye and homefield advantage at least the next two playoff games. They actually lost to Minnesota State-Mankato in the 2nd round (their first playoff game) on a last-second field goal, so it was a quick exit. Shouldn't have ended that way, but that's life. I'd expected them to realistically make the semis, and then you roll the dice and see what comes up.
He played really well; led the team in tackles and was voted 2nd-team all-conference, which I thought was bullshit. Obviously I'm a parent, but the two guys who got 1st team inside LB were both 6-year players, so I felt like it was more of a career achievement award, and his coaches said as much. I've watched a lot of football, and objectively Gary outplayed them throught the conference season. Anyway, he plans to go back as long as the defensive coaches are there. The DC & LB coach are both Texas guys, and I see them coming back to Texas at some point, but I don't know if it will be before he graduates or not. He and several of his buddies from Texas talk about playing back Texas at bigger schools (and their classmate & starting center for the last 2 seasons jumped in the portal to give it a shot), but most of them decided to stick around while these coaches are still there. He likes all of the coaches, and I think that's probably not the norm everywhere, so he knows there's value in that. The portal is interesting, to say the least, and it definitely has an effect at the D2 level as well. CSU-P is losing some good, experienced players, but they have a good bit of talent and are getting some transfers to fill needed spots, so they've got a good chance to get back to the playoffs if people can stay healthy.
Speaking directly of Gary, while I don't pretend to know exactly how it works and what schools need, I don't see the bigger Texas schools on the prowl for a 6' white linebacker. The intangibles he brings to the table are just as impactful as his phyiscal & gameday abilities, so without coaches knowing who he is and how he affects a program, I don't know that I seem him going anywhere else. His best chance to move would be if one of his coaches took a position at a FCS school in Texas and brought him along. I've tried to stop guessing what is going to happen, so we'll just see how things go. At this point, it's time to try and get through spring ball, summer workouts and fall camp healthy and get ready to have another good season.
