During the 2003 offseason, Texas State defensive backs coach D.J. Eliot hopped on Interstate 35 North. He plowed four hours through the heart of the Lone Star State, finishing in Dallas. That's where he met current Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre, working then in the NFL as the Cowboys' defensive backs coach.
Eliot and MacIntyre shared ideas about secondary play and their defensive philosophies, information which would come in handy during their career progressions over the next decade. When the meeting ended, both assistant coaches continued along different routes.
MacIntyre took a job coaching the New York Jets' secondary in 2006 before serving as Duke's defensive coordinator for two seasons. He then resurrected San Jose State's program in his first head coaching gig before settling at Colorado and performing a similar resuscitation in Boulder.
Meanwhile, Eliot moved to Tulsa, then to Rice and then to Kentucky to be the Wildcats' defensive coordinator.
The two wouldn't cross paths again until this past January, when former Colorado defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt left for a new job at Oregon. Fourteen years after it happened, Eliot's drive to Dallas paid off: MacIntyre hired him to be the Buffs' defensive coordinator.
"It was a good fit for me," said Eliot, whose wife grew up in Westminster, Colorado, just about 20 miles from Boulder. "This has always been a special place for us."
Eliot believes that his fit within the Buffs' football framework will be just as solid -- even if he must withstand a mass talent exodus in his first year on the job. Colorado's defense, which led the Pac-12 by giving up only 18.4 points per conference game last year, has lost eight starters.
The list of departures includes all of the team's starting defensive linemen and starting cornerbacks (a collection of talent headlined by Josh Tupou and Chidobe Awuzie), all-conference safety Tedric Thompson, and pass-rush specialist Jimmie Gilbert, who was among the Pac-12 leaders in sacks and tackles for loss.
But amidst all that attrition, Eliot is quick to acknowledge the Buffs' returning talent.
"We've still got a group of guys who are hungry and want to win," he said. "They got a taste of it last year."
Tackle leader Rick Gamboa returns at inside linebacker. Starting outside linebacker N.J. Falo is also back alongside Terran Hasselbach at that position. Defensive lineman Leo Jackson played plentifully in 2017, as did cornerback Isaiah Oliver and safety Nick Fisher.
When Eliot took the Colorado job in January, he immediately pored over hours of film -- watching every one of the Buffs' 2016 games multiple times -- to get a gauge on the talent he was inheriting. Those returning players, he maintains, give him a suitable base from which to expect continued success.
"We still have that belief and that tenacity within the group," Eliot said. "The challenge is to get everyone else that hasn't played to play at that level."
Eliot ran the same 3-4 defensive scheme at Kentucky that Colorado has leveraged to great success under MacIntyre. In his effort to maintain continuity, Eliot made it a point to talk with Leavitt, his predecessor who had spent the past two seasons transforming Colorado's defense from one of the nation's worst to what was -- at least statistically -- the Pac-12's best in 2016.
The Buffs will continue to focus on disguising the looks of the defensive fronts and coverages that they present from the 3-4.
"We're going to keep trying to confuse quarterbacks," Eliot said. "We'll bring multiple fronts, we'll bring different pressures and coverages -- but we'll try to make it all look the same."
That effort, as it often is, will be rooted in Colorado's ability to remain stout up front. Eliot is particularly excited about an infusion of junior college talent there that should give the Buffs an immediate jolt of man strength. Javier Edwards is a 350-pound force of nature, while Chris Mulumba -- a three-time Finnish judo champion and black belt -- should add more oomph to the unit.
The Buffs are physically ready to reload, something they couldn't say just two years ago, when the team was still desperately playing catch-up in the muscle department to compete with the rest of the Pac-12.
"I'm pleased with where we're at," Eliot said. "We're nowhere near where we need to be, but considering how many guys we lost, I think we're right on track."
In the larger picture, Colorado is certainly on track: The Buffs' eight conference wins last season alone easily surpassed their total of five league wins throughout their five initial years in the conference. New facilities are finished, and Eliot -- back in familiar territory for his family -- feels like he's back home whenever he's in them.
"I walk down the hallway and I see the tradition of this place," Eliot said, listing a collection of trophies that he passes on the way to his office. "Now that the support and facilities are here with that tradition, I think the sky is the limit here."