Kickin’ It with Kiz: Is real pressure for Broncos to succeed on Russell Wilson or Nathaniel Hackett?

My biggest concern for the Broncos? I’d say the coaching staff is a real question mark, and with our schedule, we can’t afford a learning curve.

Nate, keen observer

Kiz: It takes time for a quarterback and a new team to gel. Russell Wilson will get a honeymoon period with Broncos fans. Coach Nathaniel Hackett won’t get the same benefit of doubt. Should Denver sputter out the gate, he will get the blame. The big pressure is on Hackett from Day 1.

I have missed six CU Buffs home football games since 1974 and traveled to lots of road games, as well. I have been very concerned about the influence of big money in college sports for many years, and it may be driving me away now. How about the Buffs joining the Ivy League? Go CU!

Michael, repping the 303

Kiz: Well, they don’t call CU the Harvard of the Rockies for nuthin’. Unable to win consistently at the highest levels of college football, the Buffs could join forces with Stanford, Cal and maybe Vanderbilt to give the Ivy League a national media footprint. Hey, when CU joined the Pac-12, the goal was to compete against like-minded academic institutions, right? At least that’s what we were told. Or maybe, like everything else in college sports, the Buffs’ ill-fated move to the Pac-12 was all about the money.

I love my Buffs, but they should take a good look at Nebraska and learn the lesson. CU football would be better off as the cream of the Mountain West than the doormat of the Big Ten. I’d much rather watch the Buffs beat up on CSU and Wyoming than get pummeled by Ohio State or allow Mel Tucker back in Boulder!

Dan, grade-A thinker

Kiz: While the Buffs coached by Bill McCartney could compete and beat anyone, I would argue CU football has never been a national brand on par with Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State. In the current money grab by mega conferences, the fun (not to mention the financial lure) of regional rivalries is being trampled by greed.

My silly proposal would be to turn college football into semi-pro teams that lease their facilities from universities. Brand the teams with the university logo, but the players wouldn’t be students and would be tied to the institution with contracts, not enrollment in the university.

Wayne, revolutionary thinker 

Kiz: Silly minds think alike. I have believed for years college football players should be employees of the university, paid to provide on-field entertainment for five years, with attending class optional and at the athlete’s own cost. While the starting quarterback of an elite program might make millions of dollars per season, the minimum wage for a back-up offensive lineman would be equal to the price of tuition, room and board.

And today’s parting shot takes issue with the Walton family offering a stake in Broncos ownership to distinguished former Secretary of State and proud St. Mary’s Academy alum Condoleezza Rice.

The Broncos should have cut an ownership deal with the South Park guys instead. Like, we have our standards.

J.T., Westminster