The pale yellow walls in John Wristen's temporary office - a 5-foot
by 5-foot cubicle on the sixth floor of the school library - are
nearly bare. There are a few important phone numbers taped to a
power pole, and there are boxes of practice jerseys stacked in a
corner.
A chair, circa 1971, sits against one wall, and his desk takes up
most of another. Wristen works a land line with one hand, a cell
phone with the other - all while glancing at e-mail and the
Internet on his computer screen.
The Pueblo Chieftain Online
Such is the life of a Division II college football coach.
Wristen, the head coach of the new Colorado State University-Pueblo
football program, wouldn't have it any other way. That's because he
knows his patience - and persistence - will pay off.
"It's been hectic, but it's been kind of cool. And we're getting
excited about playing football," Wristen said. "This has been a
special job from Day 1 and what we're trying to do has been
fun."
Wristen officially has been on the job five months today. In those
five months, he has shaken thousands of hands, and answered
thousands of e-mails, voice mails and text messages. He has seen
thousands of kids play high school football and has helped raise
millions of dollars for the program.
"It seems like two weeks," Wristen said. "The time has gone by so
quickly. It's kind of hard to measure where we're at because it
seems like we're doing all the right things, and things are going
OK, and then something else comes up."
Driven by adrenaline, caffeine and the fear of failure, Wristen and
his staff have worked non-stop since they were hired.
"I did get some time (off) and took a deep breath during the
holidays to reconnect with my family and that was great," he said,
sounding like a man who is fighting off a cold. "But there's just
so much to be done and not a lot of time. We have no frame of
reference on how to do things; we just think by working harder than
everyone and doing things the way we know how, that that's the
right way."
As for the office, Wristen drives by his new digs every day. His
office will be part of the ThunderBowl football stadium and field
house, being built right next to campus. If all goes well, he and
his staff will go from cramped to cushy later this summer.
"The people on campus have been great to us. We have a space to
work and that's all you can ask for," he said.
In exactly 247 days, he will get an up-close smell of the fruits of
his labor. That's when the ThunderWolves play host to Panhandle
(Okla.) State in the program's first game since 1984.
"There's the realization that you've got 10 legit college games on
the schedule in nine months," Wristen said. "We're doing something
here no school in the country has ever tried - starting a program
and playing a full schedule in a year."
Wristen and his staff (there will be some notable additions
announced in the coming days) have turned their attention to Feb. 6
- national signing day. Wristen will formally announce those
student-athletes who already have enrolled at CSU-Pueblo with the
intent of playing football, as well as many others who sign letters
of intent on that day.
"We'll have a list, and we think it's going to be a great list,"
Wristen said. "I'm not sure of the numbers yet, but that first
group is going to be special. This is the really exciting part. I'm
more in my comfort zone now, getting ready to get on the
field."
The coach's goal is to have at least 100 participate in spring
football. At the Division II level, programs are allowed 15 days of
practice in the spring.
"We just want it to be the right 100 or so. That's the challenge,"
he said. "We've had more than 900 inquiries about the program, so
the word has gotten out. At the same time, you have to get kids
that can play and be competitive and not all of those 900 can
play."
