For the members of Mike MacIntyre’s first recruiting class at Colorado, there is some disagreement as to when the program started its upward trajectory. Some say it was at the start of their second season on campus, in 2014. Others insist it was halfway through last season when, despite losing nine times, they were competitive in nearly all of their games.

But the when pales in comparison to the how. All that matters is that the Buffs are 6-2, ranked No. 23 in the nation, bowl eligible for the first time since 2007 and tied with Utah atop the Pac-12 South with a 4-1 conference record.

One thing they all can agree upon is that Year 1 was tumultuous. Most of the seniors on that 2013 team were on their third coach (not counting interim coach Brian Cabral). They had been knocked around in two different conferences, and any sense of unity was nonexistent.

“When I first got here, we had guys who busted their butts, but you didn’t see the same attitude,” said outside linebacker Jimmie Gilbert. “There wasn’t the same fire. You could tell those guys had been beaten down for the last three or four years.”

Added wide receiver Bryce Bobo: “When I first got here, we didn’t have much leadership on the team. No one would really listen to each other, much less the coaches. We weren’t disciplined.”

The 2013 freshmen tell stories of infighting, petty behavior and a splintered locker room, with allegiances spread across the Dan Hawkins guys, the Jon Embree guys and the MacIntyre guys. And in some cases there were no allegiances at all.

“My first year, I wouldn’t say we were much of a team,” said fullback/tight end George Frazier. “You had a lot individuals and guys playing for themselves.”

When MacIntyre was hired in December 2012, on the heels of rebuilding San Jose State's program, there were 10 players who had already committed to Colorado. MacIntyre’s first move was to work the phones, telling all 10 he would honor their scholarship offers. He retained nine.

“It was a whirlwind,” MacIntyre said. “It was a dead period, so I couldn’t go see them yet. That was tough. For about three weeks I could only call and try to build a relationship.”

Receiver Bryce Bobo was among MacIntyre's first recruiting class in 2013, and remembers the shape the Buffaloes were in upon his arrival in Boulder. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

He also had to sell them on his vision. Having rebuilt San Jose State into a 10-win program, he had some evidence to support his philosophies. But not much else.

“When they came here, our program was not real respected,” MacIntyre said. “There was a lot of turmoil within the program. Our facilities weren’t like everybody else’s either. ... It was pretty tough. They had to see my passion. They had to believe what I was telling them, and they had to trust me.”

Said safety Tedric Thompson: “They were very upfront with me. It was going to be a process. We weren’t going to come in and start going to Rose Bowls. We were going to have to build.”

And they did. Even when the Buffs won just two conference games in MacIntyre’s first three seasons, they trusted him. From that original 2013 class, only one player has transferred. Three others took medical retirements. Otherwise, 18 of the original 22 are still around to enjoy the spoils after those seasons of heartache and frustration.

“There’s a special bond there,” MacIntyre said of his first class. “When they got here they had both feet in the boat, as I like to say. They didn’t have one foot out of the boat. They were all the way in.”

Quarterback Sefo Liufau remembers being at an ice cream parlor in California while on a basketball trip when MacIntyre first reached out.

“I got a call from a random number and I wasn’t even sure if I should pick up,” Liufau said. “I’m glad I did. He told me they’d honor my commitment. He sold me on the idea that we could be part of something special.”

EDITOR'S PICKS Why stop at 6 wins? Colorado targets a Pac-12 South title

Colorado's players and coaches celebrated their sixth win and bowl eligibility with the enthusiasm the milestone deserved. But they also turned their sights to a more ambitious target.

Even as the losses mounted – 27 of them in those first three seasons – the initial recruiting class continued to believe they had the trappings of a successful football team. They clung to the notion that it was on them to, for lack of a better Coloradan colloquialism, stand shoulder to shoulder.

“We talk about that all the time,” said Bobo. “This became our team. We’re the ones that fully started this legacy to bring Colorado back to where it needs to be. ... We got to the point where we were tired of losing.”

Colorado enters the bye week ranked in the top half of the league in scoring offense (sixth, 35.4 points per game) and scoring defense (second, 18.1 ppg). They have forced a turnover in 21 consecutive games, the longest streak in the country. They are confident moving the ball on the ground and in the air. And they are confident they can stop any offense they encounter.

“I’ve never been around a team that has this much confidence,” said linebacker Addison Gillam. “It’s a completely different confidence level [from the first year]. We do a lot on our own. We don’t rely on the coaches to worry about us keeping people in line. They put that on us, and that’s really what helped the most.”

The 2013 group had their various reasons for sticking with Colorado. Gillam had committed to MacIntyre at San Jose State. But as he says, he committed to the man, not the school. And the chance to play for a Power 5 program was enticing. Bobo just loved the school, calling it “the whole package.” Wide receiver Devin Ross said he felt a bond with MacIntyre.

“After Embree got fired, a lot of the other coaches from other schools I talked to didn’t believe in me,” Ross said. “Mac did. He called every day. He showed me he believed in me.”

Three years later, that first recruiting class is returning the favor.