FORT COLLINS — Mike Bobo sat on the couch in his office and spoke with a decisiveness in his voice. The Colorado State football coach bluntly evaluated the 2018 season, saying the Rams failed in all three phases of the game in a 3-9 campaign.

In diagnosing the season with his staff, athletic director Joe Parker and some of the players he expects to carry a leadership role in 2019, what linked the outcomes was a lack of accountability.

It’s the message he’s discussed with his staff and what will be delivered to the team when the players return from break in January. To make sure they understand accountability begins with him, Bobo said Monday he will set the initial example.

Bobo informed Parker two days after the loss to Air Force he would decline his $100,000 raise for the 2019 season. He amendment his contract and signed it in the past week, leaving his salary for this season at $1.8 million.

“I didn’t think we were very disciplined, I didn’t think we were very accountable to each other, and ultimately that’s my responsibility,” Bobo said. “I thought it was a way to show accountability is a two-way street, in my opinion. It’s easy to say it’s this guy’s fault or that guy’s fault, but ultimately I’m the guy in charge and made a decision, called Joe on the telephone and told him that’s what I wanted to do.”

The nature of the suggestion, which Parker accepted, was a bit out of the blue. As he noted, that just doesn’t happen. On the other hand, to Parker the gesture validated everything he believed about the person Bobo is, one reason he issued a statement of support for his coach after the program missed the postseason for the first time in five years.

“He said I know I haven’t met your expectations, I know I haven’t met my own expectations and I don’t feel comfortable accepting the raise that’s in my employment agreement, so I want to decline that,” Parker said. “So, that’s what we’ve done. We’ve modified his employment agreement so he doesn’t receive the raise that was going in this new contract year. That’s not typical. That doesn’t usually happen. Again, that just makes me realize we have a pretty special person who recognizes his own personal accountability and doesn’t feel good about what occurred this season, and is pointing all of his efforts into 2019.”

The move has no other effects on his contract. The buyouts — if he decides to leave or if CSU decides to part ways — are not altered. His original contract still holds in 2020, when he will make $2 million for the season, and all incentive bonuses are still in line.

Bobo said the notion first hit him on the bus ride from Colorado Springs back to Fort Collins. He thought about it, prayed about it and mentioned it to his wife, Lainie. The call was made when he was picking up one of his sons from a function.

Bobo feels his ailment — he was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in August that caused him to miss 11 days of fall camp — set wheels in motion he didn’t comprehend at the time. The diagnosis came at the start of a season with six new coaches on staff preparing for a Zero Week game and with the departure of key team leaders.

“The offseason is part of that, but you kind of form your identity and who you are every year during fall camp,” he said. “That was a major setback when I was not in camp, and when I got back, I really wasn’t here. That was a tough thing to go through, and I never really could get my hands around this football team.

“When you go back and look at things that you feel like may have caused some of the things that happened this season, I think they’re easily fixed.”

Running back Izzy Matthews took part in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit in the past week, stating there was a poor culture on the team and coaches catered to “cancers” on the team.

Bobo’s reaction was Matthews was entitled to his opinion, and while he’s appreciative of everything Matthews did in his time, he doesn’t completely agree.

“I mean, you’re 3-9. Your culture is not very good,” said Bobo, who admitted he had not seen it, but a coach on staff had read it to him. “If we’re 3-9 and have a good culture, what’s everybody going to say? They’re having a good ol’ time and they’re 3-9, they don’t care about winning. When you lose, that brings out some of the sores.”

As for the coach’s health, he said he’s improving every day. He’s rehabbing better, and while there is still some numbness on the bottom of his feet, he knows he’s closer to the end of what was explained as an 18-month process.

As turbulent as the season became, he comes out the back end feeling like he’s a better head coach overall. He’s more confident in all of the daily tasks as the guy in charge, and now they’re all neatly kept inside his new iPad, complete with a pencil.

Parker’s confidence in Bobo stems not just from the person, but the coach. Bobo was hired before Parker, but Bobo became his guy when he extended his contract prior to the New Mexico Bowl in December of 2017.

Parker’s assessment is he’s seen continuous growth every year. He highlights the road win over San Diego State in 2016 as the complete effort that shows Bobo has the acumen to succeed to the point of bringing home Mountain West championships. But he, too, would like to see more of them, especially against rivals and in bowl games.

“I know what we have, and I’m willing to invest more time into seeing if Mike can put all the things together that make more complete games like the one we had at San Diego State, or earlier in the 2017 season,” Parker said.

Bobo’s personal goal remains to run out of the tunnel with his team the first game of the 2019 season. His professional goal is to make sure the Rams are a much better team, and he feels if they all hold themselves to the right standard on and off the field, it’s a very realistic goal to expect.

Staff discussions have been held to place players in positions of leadership. He’s excited about the return of Toby McBride, who will be asked to fill one of those roles. So will his brother, Trey, players Bobo said really care about the team and the program. The same goes for Adam Prentice, who holds influence, Barry Wesley, Collin Hill and Emmanuel Jones.

“We’re going to be accountable in all areas of our life,” Bobo said. “That’s going to make us a better football team. Not just out here in spring practice, but in all areas of our life, we’re going to become accountable in doing things the right way.”

Mike Brohard: 970-635-3633, mbrohard@reporter-herald.com and twitter.com/mbrohard