Family ties drive new Colorado State coach Mike Bobo

Santa's plans keep changing.

The Bobo family sent in a special request to have Christmas presents delivered a few days early.

Mike Bobo was preparing to serve in his role as offensive coordinator for the University of Georgia in the Belk Bowl against Louisville, and he had to report to the team on Dec. 24.

So the family gathered at their home in Georgia.

Mike's parents were there, so were his wife Lainie's, as they prepared for an early Christmas with the Bobos' five children.

Then Monday evening, the family got the call that Bobo was going to become CSU's next football coach.

"Today was going to be Christmas day," Lainie said at Bobo's introductory press conference at Colorado State University on Tuesday. "It was really nice that everybody was there and we were able to share it. We're super excited and nervous. It's just been a whirlwind."

Hopefully someone got word to Santa that the Bobos' plans have changed.

The family was picked up by CSU interim athletic director John Morris and flew to Colorado on Tuesday morning. They met the press and fans in the early afternoon.

They'll fly back to Georgia on Wednesday.

Bobo spent the past 14 seasons as a coach at Georgia after playing there from 1994 to 1997. In his introduction, he talked about the no-huddle spread offense that he runs and how he thinks the CSU football team is set for great success with the strong position former coach Jim McElwain left it in.

Through all the talk of the on-the-field product, there was one thing Bobo kept reverting back to — family.

He fought back tears when talking about Lainie, and an extra-wide smile came across his face when his youngest daughter Kate stood up to shyly wave to the crowd.

"The most important thing in my life is sitting right here," Bobo said. "They all look good in green."

Bobo's start in coaching came at a young age. His dad, George, is a legendary coach in Thomasville, Georgia.

"He tends to be tougher on you than he is the other guys sometimes. Early on in my life, I didn't really know what direction my dad was trying to push me, but it was all for a reason," Bobo said. "He taught me about loyalty, hard work, trust and really held me to a high standard every day of my life."

Bobo has tried to carry those values through his career.

He thanked his family for putting up with the exhaustive hours a coach puts in and said Lainie's the "head coach in my household."

When Bobo is able to take a break in the summer, it always revolves around Lainie, Drew, 10, triplets Olivia, Jake and Ava Grace, 8, and Kate, 6.

Last summer, Mike and Drew took a boys fishing trip to Alaska. It's always something a little bit different, but the core remains the same.

"It might be at the beach, it might be at the lake in the mountains, it might be in Florida where I'm from," Lainie said. "Really it's about us being together and getting to relax. It's all about family."

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.