Given the attrition that the Buffaloes have battled this offseason with respect to the transfer portal, when looking at CU's corps of cornerbacks, it seems only natural to keep in mind the players Colorado lost.

CU's two starting cornerbacks from 2021, Christian Gonzalez and Mekhi Blackmon, were among the multitude of players to hit the portal following the conclusion of last season.

Gonzalez landed at Oregon, while Blackmon joined Southern Cal.

However, one person who isn't all that interested in reflecting on lost players in Colorado's new cornerbacks coach, Rod Chance.

"I want to focus on the men that are in the room, more so than the guys who are not, because those are the guys I’m going to go to battle with and those are the guys I’m going to win football games with," he said.

The 37-year-old Chance joined CU's staff from Oregon, where he oversaw the Ducks' corners for two seasons.

Previously, in 2019, he was on staff at Minnesota with Clay Patterson and also crossed paths with Karl Dorrell when the latter was Vanderbilt's offensive coordinator in 2014.

Since getting settled in with Colorado's assistants, Chance has gone on to lay out his philosophy when it comes to coaching.

“I think I’m a relationship coach first and foremost," Chance said. "Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. For me, my first and foremost thing — I want to (have) great relationships. I can’t be their father, but some of those kids may need a father figure, maybe a big brother figure, maybe an uncle."

"I believe if you have a great relationship with kids, you can coach them just about as hard as you want to, because they know it comes from a sincere place.”

Chance appeared unconcerned with going into spring football with a young group of corners.

Juniors Jaylen Striker and Nigel Bethel will be the oldest players in the room, while Nikko Reed, Kaylin Moore and Tyrin Taylor, all of whom saw significant playing time last year as true freshmen, will also have the chance to compete for starting positions.

Both Striker and Bethel saw their 2021 seasons get cut short with injuries.

Key for Chance will be to create a level playing field, where everyone has the ability to prove to him that they belong with the first-team.

“I think anytime you have a room, regardless of who’s in that room, as a new coach, you have to provide that opportunity," he said. "If not, you lose credibility as a coach.

"Everybody wants to believe they have a fair shot, and one year to the next year doesn’t guarantee that you're going to have the opportunity to start. Regardless of who’s in the room, that was going to be my approach either way."

In addition to the aforementioned corners, CU also signed four more as part of the 2022 class: Simeon Harris, Joshua Wiggins, Keyshon Mills and Jason Oliver.

With spring ball practices set to begin on March 30, Chance is excited to get working with the corners he does have at his disposal, while looking ahead to this summer when all of his players will be in Boulder.

"We’ve got guys that can play on the outside and lock up, we’ve got guys who can play in deep defense, as well. For us, it’s about getting those guys on campus, getting them moving and seeing who they are, what they do, what their body style is going to be when they show up, and then, we’ll kind of move from there.”