Chiaverini looking to improve on his first stint as play caller

Offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini has watched the film from 2018 and understands what he needs to improve on as a play caller.

Darrin Chiaverini is getting another shot. In 2018, during Chiaverini's first stint as the play caller for the CU Buffs, his offense had mixed results. 

A coaching change had him staying at CU but moved back to wide receivers while being elevated to assistant coach. 

Now he's ready to give it another go and Chiaverini says he's learned from his experience calling plays in 2018.

In the 2018-19 season, Colorado’s offense finished ninth in the Pac-12 in total yards per game and seventh in the conference in points per game. During the seven-game slide to end the season, the Buffs scored just seven points twice – against Utah and Washington State.

“Sometimes when you're in the moment, you can't see everything at that certain point, but when you can step back after a season and watch film and see what issues we had, where we could be better,” Chiaverini said in a press call last Wednesday.

Some of those issues, critics say, was having an offense that was too predictable, and relying too heavily on LaViska Shenault.

“LaViska Shenault was our best player and I built a lot of it around him. When he was healthy, we were pretty good. When he got hurt, we struggled,” Chiaverini said. “I need to do a better job of incorporating other good players in the scheme and building around all of them.”

In his second stint as the play-caller for Colorado, Chiaverini says he will incorporate head coach Dorrell’s input, but will keep his identity.

“What's good about Coach Dorrell’s background and my background is, as he's done things in his past that have been really good, I've done things in my past that are very good. I think he named me the play-caller for a reason,” Chiaverini said. “(Dorrell) said that to me he's like, 'Chev I want you to feel like this is your offense and I want some input, but I want you to feel comfortable with what you're doing.'”

In 2020, Chiaverini says his offense will improve the run game, incorporate more play-action to take pressure off the quarterback, mix and match tempo and have some spread concepts like he did in 2018. Chiaverini insists the offense will be based on the players he has available and their skills.

Coach Chev is entering his fifth year on the Colorado coaching staff, working previously as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach under Mel Tucker. In his short time at CU, Chiaverini has established himself as a fan favorite, and one of the top 25 recruiters in the country.