FAMILY FLAVOR FOR 2 BUFFS RECEIVERS
BOULDER» Mike MacIntyre was a freshman Vanderbilt defensive back while his father was the Commodores’ head coach in the fall of 1984. George MacIntyre told his son: “You’re a player, I’m a coach — all the time,” except once a week when he called Mike into his office and locked the door. Off went the coaching hat. On came the dad hat.
“What’s going on? How are things in your life?”
Now, more than 30 years later, Mike MacIntyre has a greater appreciation for those talks.
“You never really get that time,” he said. “You don’t want to miss out on that.”
The University of Colorado completed its annual “Family Weekend” on Saturday in Boulder, and nowhere was the theme more apparent than in the football locker room as the Buffaloes hosted Arizona. Junior CU receiver Jay MacIntyre kept with the family tradition in following his father’s coaching footsteps, while Curtis Chiaverini, the son of co-offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, is a freshman walk-on receiver this fall.
“I know the expectations on me are a little bit higher, they always have been because of my dad,” Jay MacIntyre said.
Added Curtis Chiaverini on his father: “He told me he wasn’t going to take it easy on me.”
The year-round demands of a college football coach prevent typical family-time structures, but since their sons joined the program, coaches MacIntyre and Chiaverini have enjoyed extra perks of parenthood. MacIntyre missed at least half of Jay’s games in high school and would sometimes drop by a practice, if only to catch a glimpse. Same goes for Chiaverini, who moved his family from Dallas, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles and Lubbock, Texas, prior to being hired at CU.
Now, “I see my dad more than I ever have in my life,” Jay MacIntyre said.
“I smile every time I see (Curtis) in a Colorado uniform,” Darrin Chiaverini added.
Both players are former Monarch High School standouts who had options to play college football elsewhere. In the week leading up to Jay’s 2014 National Signing Day decision — mulling over scholarship offers from CU, Wyoming, Air force and others — he and Mike spoke on the phone one afternoon for nearly two hours. Jay asked if his dad ever regretted playing for his own father:
“No, never,” Mike said. “I would do it again.”
“For him to say that, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s do it.’ I haven’t regretted it since,” Jay said.
Curtis Chiaverini’s first scholarship offer came from Division II CSU-Pueblo and he received interest from several smaller Division I programs. What ultimately drew him to Boulder, though, was a love for a team that stems back to dad’s CU playing days (1995-98) as a receiver.
“I’ve always wanted to come to Colorado,” Curtis said. “When (my dad) got the job here, it was like a match made in heaven.”
However, longtime CU fans can attest that family flavor at Folsom Field hasn’t always flourished. From 2007 to 2010, former Buffaloes’ quarterback Cody Hawkins, the son of former head coach Dan Hawkins, set the program’s career high interceptions mark (43). Not the greatest precedent for the Buffaloes’ staff offspring.
“At first, guys are going to look at you as the coach’s son,” Jay said. “That’s how it is. But as you keep going each day, getting better and better and proving yourself, people start to realize that’s Jay MacIntyre, not just coach MacIntyre’s son.”
That identity was solidified last November when MacIntyre caught seven passes for 90 yards, including five third-down conversion receptions in CU’s 38-24 victory against Washington State. Chiaverini is awaiting his turn, with the ultimate goal of earning a scholarship — just like his uncle, Ryan Chiaverini, did as a former walk-on in 1998.
“I see the joy in coach Mac’s eyes when Jay does well and I also see the anguish when the things don’t go as well,” Darrin Chiaverini said. “That’s part of the deal, because it’s not just a player. It’s your son. There are a lot of emotions that go behind that.”
Just as his father before him, Mike MacIntyre holds those same closeddoor meetings with his son, if only for a few minutes, to separate life and football. Then, it’s back to an old mantra.
“You’re a player, I’m a coach — all the time.”