JayhawkSlant.com - Making big strides at Northern Colorado

August 31, 2009

Jon Kirby

Five years ago Jay Hinrichs took over at Northern Colorado and has made a big impact on their athletic program. He oversaw the move when the Bears athletic teams made the jump to the division one level. He has also been a key figure in helping UNC raise money to build facilities.

Hinrichs, a Kansas grad, and former associate athletics director at KU, is looking forward to seeing the Bears take on the Jayhawks this weekend.

The big move up in Greeley

When Hinrichs arrived in Greeley he would have the challenge of leading an athletic department into the division one level.

They didn't have to look far to find competition. Northern Colorado has four major division one schools within two hours of them. Colorado State, Colorado, Air Force, and Wyoming are all nearby. Both Colorado and Colorado State are within an hour or less.

Not only was moving to the division one level a big step for Hinrichs and the Bears, but building facilities to keep them on a level playing field was a priority.

"We started in 2005 with a student fee referendum that brought $16 million of renovations to our facilities," Hinrichs said. "We focused on practice facilities for our field sports. We put in two synthetic turf fields, four natural grass fields, built a new softball complex and put them all under lights. We rebuilt our tennis center, put in a new indoor practice facility for our court sports for men's and women's basketball along with volleyball to practice in. When our competition gym is busy we need a place to practice. We're ahead of Colorado State they don't have a practice center yet. It is coming up out of the ground. We're ahead of Colorado, they don't have a practice center."

One of the coaches happy to see the new basketball facility was Tad Boyle. The former Kansas captain under Larry Brown, is the head basketball coach at Northern Colorado.

Still a lot of work left

The work isn't over at UNC. The move to the division one level was a tall task, but they are continuing to add on and build. Hinrichs remembers the early talks about building the Booth Family Hall of Fame at Kansas and he plans on doing something similar.

"Our second phase which we are undergoing right now is an $14 million renovation to our athletics center," Hinrichs said. "That includes new locker rooms, new sports medicine center, new strength and conditioning center, and probably most importantly a new UNC Sports Hall of Fame and sports museum."

Hinrichs gives a lot of credit to president Kay Norton, who has played a big part of the schools success. Before Hinrichs arrived at UNC they didn't have long-term contracts for coaches. They didn't have a quality strength and conditioning program. They lacked many of the needed aspects to compete in division one.

"We've had great support from our president (Norton) to re-classify our sports and get up with the other Big Sky institutions in what we had to do to be competitive," Hinrichs said. "What we were able to do is build a great, great staff. We have tremendously dedicated coaches with full assistant staffs. We did not have many people working in athletics when we got here. We built a great support staff. Our sports medicine staff is tremendous. Our strength and conditioning staff is doing a great job. We didn't have a strength and conditioning staff when I got here. We didn't have a place to lift weights. We've got some great people on board."

Keeping an eye on the Jayhawks

Hinrichs earned both his undergraduate and Masters degree at Kansas. He has always followed the sports programs since he can remember.

He spent 18 years with the Kansas City Royals in roles that included assistant general manager and director of stadium of operations. During that time he always volunteered his time in Lawrence helping out in whatever he could do. Some of those jobs included keeping score or stats at football and basketball games.

After his time with the Royals he was hired at KU as the director of the Williams Fund and the associate athletic director for facilities planning. A year-and-a-half later he was selected to head the athletic department at Northern Colorado.

"I have always followed KU," Hinrichs said. "Getting my undergraduate and my Masters degree at Kansas and volunteering there for almost 20 years in the athletic department while I was over at the Royals. Then getting a chance to work under Mr. Perkins and his great staff before I came over here was a great experience."

Hinrichs biggest job may be turning his son Jared into a loyal UNC Bear fan. It is a work in progress, but Jared still favors the Jayhawks.

"We have a big problem in our house with my son Jared who is now 11," Hinrichs joked about. "His room is entirely decorated with the Jayhawks. I can't get him to wear a Bears t-shirt if it is the end of the world. We support the Jayhawks and love the people who have done so many things for me when I was there."

When Kansas won the national title two years ago in basketball Hinrichs was on his way to Lawrence with the UNC baseball team to face the Jayhawks.

"I remember watching the basketball game at a restaurant in Hays, Kansas when we were on our way to play the Jayhawks in baseball," he said. "We pulled the bus over and watched the game. It's been wonderful to watch the progress the football program has made. It was something to watch them win an Orange Bowl and then win a national championship in basketball."

Another trip to Lawrence

Hinrichs is looking forward to watching his team open the season against the Jayhawks this Saturday. Last year they faced Purdue to start the season. They only trailed 7-0 late in the first half before Purdue punched in a touchdown before the half. They lost 42-10 but had more first downs and were only out-gained by 70 yards.

Northern Colorado lost three games in a row last season in the final seconds. They lost one on a Hail Mary, another after a questionable call at the goal line, and one when they went for a two-point conversion and failed.

Their starting quarterback Bryan Waggener returns after throwing for over 2500 yards. He transferred to UNC from Florida.

"We grew up a lot last year," Hinrichs said. "We lost three games by 15 points. All three were on a last second play. Our coaching staff and players are no strangers to bowl subdivision games. Scott came from Nebraska, Wyoming, and Purdue. We are looking forward to it. We just said when we had our quarterback club meting with many of our donors and Scott was able to talk to them about the future and previewing the KU game. We are returning a quarterback who started for us all 11 games last year. He transferred from Florida where he was behind this guy named Tebow."

Playing against Kansas is important to Northern Colorado's program. Last year it was a Big 10 opponent and this year the Jayhawks will help provide a big payout. Hinrichs felt getting Kansas on the schedule was a big game for the Bears.

"I was there for a long time," Hinrichs said. "I volunteered every weekend I could for Dr. Frederick to be around and it was such a big part of my life. I wanted to get that game on the schedule. We've played baseball against Kansas but football is a little harder game to get. Larry (Keating) and Mr. (Lew) Perkins have been so good to get us a spot. We're receiving a tremendous amount of money to play this football game. We play one game like this a year to off-set our budget here."

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