Mel Tucker has done a handful of interviews since Colorado hired him as its head football coach on December 5, 2018. He's had to put on a lot of big smiles, but today's practice was all about business.

During his interview with the media following day one of Colorado's 2019 spring campaign, Tucker was 100 percent focused on football and didn't have as much as a smirk on his face.

"I liked the way they work," Tucker said about his team's practice on Monday morning. "They were enthusiastic and gave great effort. I thought we got better as the practice went and it was a good start for us."

March 18 has been a day that's been circled on the calendar for quite some time for the CU Buffs football program. Tucker and Co. have been itching to hit the field for an official practice.

"It was great to finally get out on the grass," Tucker said. "I was glad we were able to get outside and the players were excited to get out and so were the coaches. We finally got a chance to roll up our sleeves and coach them up a little bit."

"Last night I was a little jittery," added redshirt senior quarterback Steven Montez. "I kind of wanted to get my outfit ready for the morning and lay it all out on my bed and it wasn't even eight o'clock yet."

The transition won't be an easy one though. The Buffaloes are coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons and struggled when faced with the opportunity of bowl eligibility. Now Colorado has new terminology to learn and new coaches to get a feel for.

"I think it's all about attitude," said Tucker. "I thought (our) attitude was great and I thought we had good buy in. I thought we had that all offseason during our fourth quarter program. I thought everyone was on the same page today and it was a good start for us."

Tucker noted that during the offseason program and day one of spring ball, there hasn't been any positions groups that have stood out more than others.

"Things will unfold as we continue to practice," he said. "Like I told them today, this is not the end. This is just the beginning. It was a good start for us."

Tucker's Buffs will move quickly from drill to drill and not only work hard but also work smart.

"Sense of urgency, be efficient, be effective. We don't want to waste time," he said. "We want to get our work done and move on to the next deal."

Colorado returns to the practice field on Wednesday morning.