Chev’s roots come out of Tecmo Bowl
BO U LDE R » A highpitched crack resonating through Darrin Chiaverini’s childhood home meant one of two things.
1. He just snapped his Nintendo controller in two after losing in Tecmo Bowl.
2. His fist made contact with his brother’s face.
The snapping of plastic and the sound of a bareknuckle brawl are nearly indistinguishable, and on occasion in Corona, Calif., in the early 1990s, the former immediately preceded the latter. It wasn’t that Chiaverini couldn’t tolerate losing in a video game — if an Octorok killed him in Link’s second quest, so be it. But losing to a lifelong rival, his twin Ryan, got him annoyed.
“I can’t tell you how many nights we got in trouble for staying up late trying to beat The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros.,” said Ryan, adding once they got to college, he stopped trying to win fights against his more athletic brother. “Darrin was so good at video games, and it wasn’t until we played Tecmo Bowl that I realized how great of a competitor he was. He’d almost always beat me. It’s probably because he used Bo Jackson (and the Los Angeles Raiders); remember how unfair that was? But he always had the right play called, too. I think that’s where a lot of what he’s doing now started — it’s like he’s playing real life video games, but the screen is a little bigger.”
Tecmo Bowl’s playbook is limited to four options, Colorado’s is deep as a John Grisham novel, but a history of selecting plays on a controller shaped Chiaverini for this moment as the Buffs’ offensive coordinator. In the 30 years since, his philosophy hasn’t changed.
“I like to get the ball into space, find a gap on the edge and attack it,” Chiaverini said.
Anyone who played Tecmo Bowl knows to abuse the Raiders’ two running plays — edge rushes with Jackson and Marcus Allen — for a surefire victory. Chiaverini doesn’t have Bo Jackson at CU. He does have the nextbest thing, Laviska Shenault.
Trailing UCLA 70 on Friday and facing firstand10 from their own 43, the Buffs bunched two wide receivers on either side of the tackles with Shenault and K.D. Nixon as the wideouts. Shenault was lined up a little wider on the right, so before the snap, Nixon yelled across the field at him to pinch in. Shenault appeared confused at first glance, but in the commotion of their motion, UCLA’S defense showed its hand – a linebacker came up to blitz and the corner who might have been covering wide moved to the slot, leaving Shenault in oneonone coverage with a backup safety playing five yards off the line.
Seven seconds later, Shenault was in the end zone with an easy 57yard touchdown reception. The confusion? It almost looked by design.
Shenault’s touchdown was his fifth of the season, and Colorado’s 17th called by Chiaverini, who’s in his first year picking plays for the same program he starred at wide receiver for from 199598 before getting drafted by the Browns. He’s been back in Boulder since 2016 and his title of wide receivers coach and cooffensive coordinator hasn’t changed since. The keys to the offense, though, are new as he previously played the “support” role to Brian Lindgren. Having the OC title and not calling plays was frustrating – anyone who watched him graduate to Tecmo Bowl at home to Madden in the dorms knew he had a knack for it — and now he’s showing why the job should have been his all along.
Entering play Saturday with victories over Colorado State, Nebraska, New Hampshire and UCLA, the Buffs ranked in the 31st nationally in scoring offense and 28th in total offense, have the nation’s leading receiver (Shenault) and thirdmost accurate passer (Steven Montez, 75.3 percent). A year ago, Colorado ranked 31st and 48th in those same team categories and Montez’s completion percentage dipped to 60.5 percent.
A lot of that can be traced back to an offensive line that’s no longer a liability and Montez having a full year as a starter on his resume. More than anything, the Buffs have a coach who knows how to use his best players — and that’s a blessing now as much as it is problem in the notsodistant future.
Chiaverini? He won’t be around Boulder for long. Not at this rate. In the past five years, he’s gone from coaching at a California junior college to leading special teams at Texas Tech to orchestrating one of college football’s most exciting offenses. Next?
“The goal is to be a head coach, and hopefully that opportunity will be back here at CU someday,” Chiaverini said.
He added that he’s loyal to Colorado coach Mike Macintyre, indebted for giving him an opportunity to return to his alma mater, and isn’t looking for a quick exit. But if the right opportunity presents itself — and his trajectory suggests it soon will — he won’t ignore it, and the threeyear contract he signed in February can’t stop a major program from poaching him.
When that happens, it’ll create two conundrums.
1. How do the Buffs replace him without significant dropoff ?
2. Who then is the biggest celebrity in the family?
The rivalry between the brothers Chiaverini didn’t end with Tecmo Bowl, who was prom king or class president (Ryan), or who became the better Buffaloes wide receiver (Darrin). When Ryan visits Boulder, they’ll pingpong battle in Dar rin’s basement, and when Darrin vacations in Chicago, he gets recognized by fans who think he’s his brother – minus the hair – cohosting the popular talk show Windy City Live.
“That’s the one thing I have on him. That’s it, and I’m not sure how long it will last. In Chicago, my celebrity might always have his beat, but he is quickly catching up to me,” Ryan said. “In high school, I had popularity on my side and he’d get annoyed when people would ask if he was my brother. In college, it was reverse. We’re rivals to this day – I’ll beat him in chess, and he’ll flip the board; we can’t play ping pong for 30 minutes with breaking a paddle; he has a competitor’s attitude, but he also has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and those things together make him so good at what he does.
“But he’s also my best friend. Seeing what he has done has been amazing, and I know he’s going to be a head coach soon. He’s prepared his whole life for it.”
Matt L. Stephens: mstephens@ denverpost.com or @mattstephens