Tuesday was a busy day for Dan Hammerschmidt.
The former Wyoming assistant head football coach and receivers coach took at job at Colorado State to be the receivers coach and pass game coordinator.
And it was his deep ties to CSU that led him back there.
He was a player there in the 1980s and spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach. His two kids were born there. And even though he was at Rice in 2008 and UW in 2009, Hammerschmidt felt he couldn’t pass up the chance to go back to his alma mater.
“I always thought I would go back some day, I just didn’t think it would be this fast,” he said Wednesday. “I played there, I coached with a lot of the guys there now.”
But that doesn’t mean Hammerschmidt didn’t enjoy his time at UW, or left because he didn’t like Laramie, his fellow coaches or his players.
“It was hard to leave (UW coach) Dave (Christensen),” he said. “I talked to my players (Wednesday) an told them to keep believing in Dave. He’s a good one. … He did his best to try and talk me out of it. I believe in everything he’s doing.”
“This had nothing to do with me being unhappy or anything like that. I really liked it, and was so impressed with the passion and ferver the people of Wyoming have for their team. I wish every school could see that and experience that.”
Hammerschmidt said the whole thing happened fast, and after UW’s 35-28 double-overtime victory over Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 19.
Christensen and his family are in Houston for the Texas Bowl where Missouri plays Navy on Thursday. As most of you know, Christensen spent eight years at Missouri as offensive coordinator before being hired at UW. He isn’t there looking for a job, but to watch his former team and spend time with friends and family.
However, he could be looking for a new coach while he’s in Texas, too, or have one already in mind. Christensen hasn’t returned phone messages left for him.
Christensen could hire from within. Running backs coach Jason Ray was a receiver at Missouri when Christensen was there. Director of football operations Jason Petrino and director of recruiting Matt Rahl both could be candidates to become position coaches as well.
Switching gears to Wyoming basketball, join me for the live blog for tonight’s game with Akron at about 6:30 p.m. at http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2009/12/24/wyoming-vs-akron-live-blog/
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