Kopetz's Northwestern Family Gets the Game It Waited For
September 16, 2026 | Football
BOULDER — Brady Kopetz was a Colorado freshman when his parents first pitched the plan.
Both of them graduated from Northwestern. So did his grandfather. And they had noticed something on the Buffaloes' future schedule.
"My parents, even when I first enrolled here as a freshman, were telling me, 'Oh, you should maybe stay for your fifth year, because then you get to play Northwestern,' " Kopetz said on Buffaloes Prime Time radio show with Mark Johnson this week.
He stayed. Now the fifth-year tight end from Portland, Ore., gets that game, as Colorado visits the Wildcats Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT on FOX.
"This is a really important week for me," Kopetz said. "I'm super excited. The way it worked out, it's just so magical that I am here."
The family's route to Evanston, Ill., started a long way apart. His mother grew up in Portland, about two minutes from where the Kopetz family lives now. His father moved around a lot as a kid.
"They kind of met in the middle of the country," Kopetz said, "and the rest is history."
Kopetz did not follow them to the Midwest. The idea of Colorado took hold during his freshman year at Portland's Lincoln High School, in a conversation with friends about where their families had gone to college and which schools sounded appealing.
"Colorado was immediately at the top of that list, because I knew it was both a great academic school," Kopetz said. "But also, student life is always raved about here, and how wonderful it is to live in Boulder and be a college student in Boulder."
There was one more draw. Kopetz spent a year on Lincoln's ski team — a state championship team — as a reserve skier, and the mountains were part of the appeal.
So was the forecast.
"That's what I heard, and I was like, 'Oh, I'm all in on Boulder,' when I heard 300 days of sunshine," Kopetz said.
The skiing has not quite gone to plan. Kopetz still hasn't made it onto a Colorado slope. His home mountain is Mount Hood Meadows, and he skis there whenever he's back in Oregon. Last year he finally brought his skis to Boulder.
"They've sat in my closet since," Kopetz said. "I really need to bring them out."
What he has done in Boulder is carve out a role. Listed as a fullback and tight end in coordinator Brennan Marion's offense, Kopetz describes the two spots as nearly interchangeable — and remembers when the position barely existed on the field.
"There were so many years where it was just one tight end or no tight ends out there, and there were years I wasn't sure we had a tight end on the team," Kopetz said. "Now tight ends are really getting utilized."
The coaching staff asked him to lean into the physical side of the job.
"Coach just really wanted me to embrace that role of being a fullback and being a physical guy and really setting the tone in our room at times," Kopetz said. "So it's amazing."
It suits him. Asked whether he prefers a physical game like Colorado's 14-13 opening win at Georgia Tech or a finesse game like last week's win over Weber State, he didn't need long.
"I think that's an easy question," Kopetz said. "I'm definitely a more physical guy, so I love those physical, hard-nosed games. Just getting knockdowns, hitting people full speed, getting a running start to someone is my favorite part of football."
The same energy shows up long before kickoff. Kopetz says he arrives the same way whether the day starts at 5 a.m. or 9 a.m.
"I show up the same way, full of juice," Kopetz said. "And when I get my cup of coffee in the morning, everyone knows that's when it's time to maybe shut your ears my way, because you do not want to hear me chirping in the morning."
Saturday's forecast may call for something other than sunshine. That doesn't worry a player from Portland.
"We definitely are used to rain in Portland," Kopetz said.
And after a convincing win over Weber State that still left the Buffs wanting more, Kopetz knows what he wants the game his family has been waiting on to look like.
"Yes, we did win, and yes, we had a convincing win, but that's not what we're looking for," Kopetz said. "We're looking for dominance, and we're looking to send a message every time we play."
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Both of them graduated from Northwestern. So did his grandfather. And they had noticed something on the Buffaloes' future schedule.
"My parents, even when I first enrolled here as a freshman, were telling me, 'Oh, you should maybe stay for your fifth year, because then you get to play Northwestern,' " Kopetz said on Buffaloes Prime Time radio show with Mark Johnson this week.
He stayed. Now the fifth-year tight end from Portland, Ore., gets that game, as Colorado visits the Wildcats Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT on FOX.
"This is a really important week for me," Kopetz said. "I'm super excited. The way it worked out, it's just so magical that I am here."
The family's route to Evanston, Ill., started a long way apart. His mother grew up in Portland, about two minutes from where the Kopetz family lives now. His father moved around a lot as a kid.
"They kind of met in the middle of the country," Kopetz said, "and the rest is history."
Kopetz did not follow them to the Midwest. The idea of Colorado took hold during his freshman year at Portland's Lincoln High School, in a conversation with friends about where their families had gone to college and which schools sounded appealing.
"Colorado was immediately at the top of that list, because I knew it was both a great academic school," Kopetz said. "But also, student life is always raved about here, and how wonderful it is to live in Boulder and be a college student in Boulder."
There was one more draw. Kopetz spent a year on Lincoln's ski team — a state championship team — as a reserve skier, and the mountains were part of the appeal.
So was the forecast.
"That's what I heard, and I was like, 'Oh, I'm all in on Boulder,' when I heard 300 days of sunshine," Kopetz said.
The skiing has not quite gone to plan. Kopetz still hasn't made it onto a Colorado slope. His home mountain is Mount Hood Meadows, and he skis there whenever he's back in Oregon. Last year he finally brought his skis to Boulder.
"They've sat in my closet since," Kopetz said. "I really need to bring them out."
What he has done in Boulder is carve out a role. Listed as a fullback and tight end in coordinator Brennan Marion's offense, Kopetz describes the two spots as nearly interchangeable — and remembers when the position barely existed on the field.
"There were so many years where it was just one tight end or no tight ends out there, and there were years I wasn't sure we had a tight end on the team," Kopetz said. "Now tight ends are really getting utilized."
The coaching staff asked him to lean into the physical side of the job.
"Coach just really wanted me to embrace that role of being a fullback and being a physical guy and really setting the tone in our room at times," Kopetz said. "So it's amazing."
It suits him. Asked whether he prefers a physical game like Colorado's 14-13 opening win at Georgia Tech or a finesse game like last week's win over Weber State, he didn't need long.
"I think that's an easy question," Kopetz said. "I'm definitely a more physical guy, so I love those physical, hard-nosed games. Just getting knockdowns, hitting people full speed, getting a running start to someone is my favorite part of football."
The same energy shows up long before kickoff. Kopetz says he arrives the same way whether the day starts at 5 a.m. or 9 a.m.
"I show up the same way, full of juice," Kopetz said. "And when I get my cup of coffee in the morning, everyone knows that's when it's time to maybe shut your ears my way, because you do not want to hear me chirping in the morning."
Saturday's forecast may call for something other than sunshine. That doesn't worry a player from Portland.
"We definitely are used to rain in Portland," Kopetz said.
And after a convincing win over Weber State that still left the Buffs wanting more, Kopetz knows what he wants the game his family has been waiting on to look like.
"Yes, we did win, and yes, we had a convincing win, but that's not what we're looking for," Kopetz said. "We're looking for dominance, and we're looking to send a message every time we play."
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