MacINTYRE NAMED HEAD FOOTBALL COACH AT COLORADO
Dec 11th
Becomes The 25th Head Coach In Buffalo Football History
BOULDER — Mike MacIntyre, who led San Jose State to its first 10-win season in 25 years, has been named the 25th head football coach at the University of Colorado, athletic director Mike Bohn announced Monday.
MacIntyre agreed to a five-year deal with a salary of $2 million annually; as with all hires of this nature, the contract is subject to final approval of CU’s Board of Regents.
He replaces Jon Embree, who was dismissed as Colorado head coach on November 25; Embree was 4-21 in two seasons at the reins of the program.
MacIntyre, 47, led San Jose State to a 10-2 record this fall, with a final regular season ranking of No. 24 in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls as well as in the final BCS Standings. The Spartans earned a berth in the Military Bowl opposite Bowling Green on December 27.
He assumed the SJSU position in December 2009, compiling a 16-21 record with the Spartans; he took over a team that had gone 2-10 in 2009, but began instilling a different culture despite a 1-12 record his first season in San Jose. His second Spartan team went 5-7, but closed the year with thrilling wins over Navy and Fresno State. His SJSU team has thus won 12 of the last 14 games.
San Jose State’s most impressive wins this fall came over San Diego State (38-34), Navy (12-0), BYU (20-14) and Louisiana Tech (52-43), teams that otherwise combined to go 30-12 in 2012. Louisiana Tech was an offensive powerhouse (led the nation in scoring, second in total offense and fourth in passing), but Tech personnel felt MacIntyre and his staff put together the best plan to disrupt its high-octane offense of any of its opponents, including Texas A&M. The losses were to Stanford (20-17 in the season opener, as the Cardinal won on a fourth quarter field goal) and to Utah State.
The 2012 season under MacIntyre is one of the best in San Jose State’s nearly 120-year football history. In recording their first 10-win season since 1987, the Spartans did it with a highly-productive offense that scored 423 points, a defense that ranked among the national leaders in many statistical categories and reliable special teams.
His third Spartan saw a SJSU single-season record 16 players earn All-Western Athletic Conference honors, which came in a year that 36 school and conference records either were tied or broken.
MacIntyre’s San Jose State teams performed in the classroom as well. In 2011, the school had a record number of Academic All-WAC team members – 13 – while defensive end Travis Johnson became the Spartans’ first player in 30 years to get Academic All-America recognition this fall. In addition, San Jose State’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in the last reporting period was 981, second best in the WAC.
Before his 2010 head coaching debut, MacIntyre instituted a comprehensive recruiting plan and initiated a “Summer Bridge” program for his first recruiting class to provide his newcomers a smooth transition into life as a college football player. Facing five nationally-ranked teams early in the season, the Spartans rebuilt themselves repeatedly, and were positioned late for victory in four of their final five games before finishing with a 1-12 record.
The 2011 Spartans produced the fourth-best positive turnaround in their football history with a 4½-game improvement. San Jose State exhibited the resiliency and resourcefulness to find a winning way.
Four of the team’s five wins were in the final minute of the fourth quarter. The opportunistic Spartans were the co-national leaders with their 20 fumble recoveries, tied for fourth in turnovers gained with 33, were disciplined as the second least penalized team in the Football Bowl Subdivision and were ranked in the top-25 in passing offense (23rd) for the first time in eight years.
After the season, San Jose State was so pleased with the direction of the program that they extended hiscontract through 2017.
A veteran coach of 22 seasons, MacIntyre arrived at San Jose State after two years as the defensive coordinator at Duke University, where he was reunited with head coach David Cutcliffe from earlier in his coaching days. Those Blue Devil defenses were among Duke’s best statistically over a 20-year span, and in 2009, Duke’s five wins were the most in a season by the Blue Devils since 1994. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named him its 2009 FBS Assistant Coach of the Year.
Prior to returning to college ball, MacIntyre spent five seasons in the National Football League with the New York Jets (2007) and Dallas Cowboys (2003-06) coaching defensive backs. Working for legendary coach Bill Parcells, the Cowboys returned to the NFL playoffs in 2003 and again in 2006 after missing out on postseason competition during the 2000 through 2002 seasons.
MacIntyre has coached on both sides of the ball, spending four years at Ole Miss (1999-2002) where he started as the wide receivers coach for two seasons and the defensive secondary coach in his final two years. The Rebels posted a 29-19 record in that time with bowl appearances in the 1999 and 2002 Independence Bowls and the 2000 Music City Bowl. The 2001 Rebels ranked fifth nationally in pass defense, allowing just 161.3 yards per game.
At Mississippi, among his recruits were two high profile student-athletes that one could sign to letters-of-intent, quarterback Eli Manning and linebacker Patrick Willis. And along his coaching trail, he has mentored many current and former NFL players including recently retired former Dallas and Cincinnati safetyRoy Williams, a five-time Pro Bowl player. At Dallas, he also tutored Terrence Newman, the former Kansas State cornerback who longtime CU fans certainly remember.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia, working two years (1990-91) in that capacity. He then coached one year as the defensive coordinator at Davidson (1992), four years at Tennessee Martin (1993-96) and two seasons at Temple (1997-98) before he joined Cutcliffe’s staff at Ole Miss.
A 1989 graduate of Georgia Tech, he lettered twice (1987-88) at free safety and punt returner for legendary head coach Bobby Ross. Prior to becoming a Yellow Jacket, MacIntyre played two seasons (1984-85) at Vanderbilt for his father, George, the head coach of the Commodores from 1979-85. The elder MacIntyre was the national coach of the year in 1982 when Vandy beat Alabama on its way to an 8-4 record.
MacIntyre earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Georgia Tech and his master’s in Education with an emphasis on Sports Management from Georgia in 1991.
He was born George Michael MacIntyre on March 14, 1965, in Miami, Fla., and he and his wife, Trisha, have three children, Jennifer, Jay Michael and Jonston.
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CU : Some good news for doggie lovers
Dec 11th
CU-Boulder, vet hospital team up for
clinical study to treat canine pain
clinical study to treat canine pain
A University of Colorado Boulder professor and her biomedical spinoff company Xalud Therapeutics Inc. of San Francisco are teaming up with a Front Range veterinarian to conduct a clinical study targeting an effective treatment for dogs suffering from chronic pain.
Distinguished Professor Linda Watkins of CU-Boulder’s psychology and neuroscience department said the study involves treating ailing dogs with a gene therapy using Interleukin-10, or IL-10, a protein and anti-inflammatory that both dogs and humans produce naturally. Watkins is working with veterinarian Robert Landry of Mountain Ridge Animal Hospital and Pain Management Center in Lafayette, who will be treating canine patients suffering from chronic and painful conditions, some of which already are being treated with various other medications with limited success.
Animals perceive and experience several levels of pain that are similar to humans, and chronic pain can be debilitating and also shorten the lives of pets, said Landry, one of only a handful of credentialed American Academy of Pain Management practitioners in Colorado. Landry currently is seeking Denver-Boulder area pet owners who have dogs suffering from chronic pain and who might be interested in participating in the study, which is free.
The new study is driven by research spearheaded by Watkins indicating a type of cell known as glial cells found in the nervous system of mammals plays a key role in pain. Under normal conditions, glial cells act as central nervous system “housekeepers,” cleaning up cellular debris and providing support for neurons, said Watkins. But glial cells also can play a pivotal role in pain enhancement by exciting neurons that both transmit pain signals and release a host of chemical compounds that cause problems like chronic neuropathic pain and other medical issues.
The team will use Xalud’s lead product candidate, XT-101, a gene therapy that harnesses the power of the potent anti-inflammatory IL-10 to normalize glial activity and eliminate neuropathic pain for up to 90 days with a single injection.
The gene therapy based on IL-10 has a number of advantages, including suppressing glial activity in the spinal cord, stimulating tissue regeneration and growth, decreasing the production of pro-inflammatory substances and increasing the production of anti-inflammatory substances, Watkins said. Landry and Watkins also have been working with the American Kennel Club on potential funding for additional clinical studies involving the treatment of chronic pain in dogs, said Watkins.
“We have already tested this new therapy in two pet dogs, and both have had remarkable reversals of their pain for long durations after a single injection of the therapeutic,” she said. “Our early peek at the potential of this therapeutic treatment in dogs shows essentially the same positive effects we have seen in laboratory rats used in our studies that have been treated with the therapy.”
Watkins said demonstrating the efficacy and safety of the new gene therapy in a second species of mammal is important in terms of moving it forward to eventually meet FDA regulations for human clinical trials.
In addition to studying what triggers glial cells to become activated and begin releasing pain-enhancing substances and ways to control chronic pain, Watkins and her research team recently discovered that clinically prescribed opioids also activate glial cells and cause them to release pain-enhancing substances. “Our ultimate goal is to find a means by which clinical pain control can be improved so as to relieve human suffering,” she said.
To contact Landry about possible participation in the study by family dogs suffering chronic pain and that might benefit from the experimental treatment, call the Mountain Ridge Animal Hospital at 303-665-4852.
For more information on CU-Boulder’s psychology and neuroscience department visit http://psych-www.colorado.edu/. For more information on Xalud Therapeutics Inc. visit http://www.xaludthera.com/. For more information on Mountain Ridge Animal Hospital visit http://www.mountainridgevet.com/.
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Jayhawks Make It An Ugly Afternoon For Buffs
Dec 8th
By B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
LAWRENCE, Kan. – After seven previous games, Kansas’ inclusion in the Top Ten might have been debatable in a few college basketball circles. After game eight, let the debate cease – at least from the Colorado Buffaloes’ perspective.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk – and with great feeling.
No. 9 KU rocked, rolled and romped over CU on Saturday in historic Allen Fieldhouse, burying the Buffs 90-54 in a beatdown for the visitors that was reminiscent of other times in other conferences.
CU dropped to 7-2, with a Wednesday trip to Fresno State next up. KU improved to 7-1, winning its 26th consecutive home game.
It was hardly the kind of return CU coach Tad Boyle, a 1985 KU grad, had in mind when the Buffs – now members of the Pac-12 Conference after leaving the Big 12 two years ago – rekindled a two-year series with KU.
The Jayhawks visit the Coors Events Center next season, and the Buffs undoubtedly left raucous Allen Fieldhouse late Saturday afternoon already dreaming of payback.
Boyle remained winless (0-4) against his alma mater and CU lost in Lawrence for the 29th consecutive time. The series stands at lopsided 123-39 in KU’s favor, including a nasty 62-7 edge in the Jayhawks’ 16,300-seat home. The Buffs last won here (75-74) on Feb. 10, 1983, when Boyle was a KU sophomore.
Freshman Josh Scott led CU with 19 points, 11 in the first half, while Askia Booker added 15. Booker had been held to six points in each of the last two games.
KU had four players in double figures, topped by Ben McLemore’s 24. He had 17 in the first half as the Jayhawks surged to a 21-point lead at intermission. KU outscored CU 46-26 in the paint and converted 18 CU turnovers into 26 points. The Jayhawks also got 16 second-chance points to the Buffs’ six and outscored CU’s bench 21-8.
Halftime brought the kind of score the Buffs had experienced in their last game, but this time they were on the other side of it – the bad side. KU led by 21 (43-22), pretty much the opposite of how CU had started on Wednesday night in rolling to a 20-point halftime lead against Colorado State.
KU’s 43 points were the most allowed in a first half by CU this season, while the Buffs’ 22 points were their lowest first-half total of the season.
How best to describe the Buffs’ start? Try slow and sloppy. Before the game was 4 minutes old, they had committed four of their 12 first-half turnovers and trailed 14-3. The Jayhawks converted those dozen turnovers into 22 of their first-half points while committing only two errors themselves.
The Allen Fieldhouse faithful was in full voice and just getting revved up.
At the 16:16 mark, CU guard Spencer Dinwiddie went down with an apparent ankle injury, went to the locker room and didn’t get back on the court until 10:08 remained before intermission. He scored immediately, hitting a jumper from the left wing, but those were his only two points of the half. He entered the game averaging 25.2 points over his last three games and finished Saturday with four.
His shot made the score 29-13 and ignited a 7-0 run that brought the Buffs to within 29-18. The Jayhawks might have sensed a slight stirring – and it didn’t please them. A 9-0 run followed, sending KU up by 20 (38-18) with 4 minutes left in the half.
Scott scored four of his team-high 11 first-half points in the final 31/2 minutes, but down by 21, the Buffs had an uphill climb facing them in the final 20 minutes.
And rather than gaining a foothold to open the second half, CU’s slippage continued. KU opened with a 6-0 run, went up by 27 (49-22) and elicited a timeout by Boyle with 18:07 to play.
It didn’t help.
After the Buffs turned it over on that possession, the Jayhawks got another McLemore basket and led by 29 (51-22) before Booker finally got CU’s first second-half points on a layup. But by then, the afternoon’s tone had been established – and it wasn’t a pretty one for the visitors.
The Buffs trailed by 42 before it was all over.
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