Darrin Chiaverini on Mel Tucker, staff defections and why CU football “can be great again”

CU is slated to open spring practice, head coach or no head coach, on March 16. With reports circling around the respective candidacies of CU alum Eric Bieniemy and non-CU-alum Bret Bielema, Chiaverini wants to keep his name in the picture, too. “The good thing is that I felt like the last 14 months (under Tucker) was on-the-job training (to be a head coach),” said the 42-year-old Chiaverini, who was promoted to assistant head coach last July. “This was the first time since I’ve been a Division I coach that I wasn’t a coordinator. I really enjoyed it, I learned a lot, and I think I’m ready for this.”