rumor: Dan Hawkins era may be coming to an end

[King Crimson]

a lot of stuff flying around from the people i know up at CU. nice guy, bad coach.

[Degenerate]

I thought the AD didn't want to cough up the $ for the buyout. Something like $3 mil?

[King Crimson]

I thought the AD didn't want to cough up the $ for the buyout. Something like $3 mil?

that's a possibility to my assessment of the situation, but i'm hearing it may be over after the OSU game tomorrow night.

[Killian]

[King Crimson]

Hawkins is a catholic and has an ND clause in his contract. amazingly, after going 2-10 and then 6-7 (the highpoint of the era) I remember seeing that get some play in the newspapers....

[King Crimson]

Hawkins is a catholic and has an ND clause in his contract. amazingly, after going 2-10 and then 6-7 (the highpoint of the era) I remember seeing that get some play in the newspapers....

Wow! Perfect! Had no idea. So when's he movin' to South Bend?


Geez, that was mighty optimistic of him and his agent. Bet he wishes now he'd never left Boise!

mighty optimistic, indeed. clearly, Peterson was "the guy" at Boise.

i noted on this board and others that the whole talk about Hawkins bringing the Boise playbook was clearly bullshit even though Dan was talking out his ass about "mojo" and "you blitz, we score". CU been last in the Big XII in O every year, I think. his coordinators suck, too. the much maligned Mark Helfrich goes to Oregon and starts lighting it up. ?.

Hawk put a nice rah rah PR face on the program that was much needed, but his teams are almost always bad. their are like 5th to last in turnover ratio out of 120+ D-1 teams. Guy was in over his head.

it was the *right* hire at the time....he was gonna get a real BCS shot somewhere, hot name, and CU was first to the market.....but it wasn't a *good* hire in terms of W-L's.

the prohibitive buyout thing is there, but i don't see how he can withstand the media, public pressure, and flat out .33 winning % to put CU fan through another off-season of disbelief.

the guy brought all kinds of kool-aid and never backed it up.

[Cuda]

Hawkins is a catholic and has an ND clause in his contract. amazingly, after going 2-10 and then 6-7 (the highpoint of the era) I remember seeing that get some play in the newspapers....

It's definitely something to pray for.

And IF, somehow, Notre Dame would hire him away from CU, all Hawkins would need is one more verified miracle and he'd be eligible for sainthood

[Cuda]

Oh, and one other thing regarding the CU football program

Is it just me, or has the Hansen kid not progressed at all at QB after becoming the starter?

He's making the same bad reads & late throws he was making when he replaced Cody mid-game several weeks ago. Cody made bad decisions on the field too, but at least he made decisions. Hansen looks down field and it's clear he doesn't know what he's looking at, nor even what he should be looking for.

[King Crimson]

13 yards rushing last night. 13 yards!!!

That should hasten Hawkin's exit.

they rushed for -14 against Missouri in a game i saw in person (dreadful football). at one point, CU goes for a 4th and 2 in the early 4th Q with 1 total yard rushing on the day. lose 2 yards on a deep handoff to the tailback. game over.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Hey Killian/Terry! Whatcha think?

Dan Devine>>>>>>>>Dan Hawkins?

hee hee

Hawkins is a catholic and has an ND clause in his contract. amazingly, after going 2-10 and then 6-7 (the highpoint of the era) I remember seeing that get some play in the newspapers....

ND's Administration is stupid. But it's not that stupid.

On second thought, I probably should rephrase that. I don't think they're that stupid.

Btw, Hawkins isn't the first Colorado coach to blow a shot at the ND job with a shitty performance there ('sup, Gary Barnett?)

13 yards rushing last night. 13 yards!!!

That should hasten Hawkin's exit.

they rushed for -14 against Missouri in a game i saw in person (dreadful football). at one point, CU goes for a 4th and 2 in the early 4th Q with 1 total yard rushing on the day. lose 2 yards on a deep handoff to the tailback. game over.

Sounds like ND circa 2007.

[Danimal]

Any rumblings about a replacement?

[King Crimson]

Any rumblings about a replacement?

rumors all across the map. nothing really that makes sense or seems realistic to me (Kelly, Charlie Strong, etc.). some people want a former McCartney guy like Bienemy (never been a coordinator) or Jon Embree....but, that seems desperate to me.

nothing will happen until the CU AD returns from a basketball trip to the Maui Invitational...which means Hawk will coach against NU.

[Cuda]

Eric Bienemy is dumber than a fucking box of rocks. He couldn't even coach a Junior high school team

[King Crimson]

Eric Bienemy is dumber than a fucking box of rocks. He couldn't even coach a Junior high school team

that's pretty much my opinion. i've had CU fans tout that the guy makes a living "coaching" Adrian Peterson actually proves something about his readiness to assume the reigns as HC.

supposedly, the internal university communications to fire Hawkins hit the appropriate admins and such this morning. don't know if this is true or not, but someone i trust didn't deny it.

[Cornhusker]

Well after Hawkins gets the and heads to South Bend maybe the Fluffers can keep the irony alive and hire Dave Logan as HC.
Following in the footsteps of Gerry Faust and the "Highschool Coaching Legendary Trail to Success" story.

I've heard this rumor countless times...does it hold any water? Still? I mean, does this guy mack it up from time to time he wants the job?

[Cuda]

Personally, I think Dave Logan would be a good fit (plus it would get him off the radio, where he's simply awful)

However, I also think Logan doesn't want the job.

[King Crimson]

i'm with Cuda about the radio, Logan is awful.

however, and this was discussed a month ago maybe, i think Logan would be a terrible hire. i could see him coming in and being OC for a few years to earn some stripes at the BCS level at CU or someplace else.....but straight into HC is not something i think is a good move. he'd need a helluva staff, that's for sure.

he never even got a sniff the last times CSU or Air Force were hiring. what does that say?

[King Crimson]

another turn of the screw:

apparently an inside AD study shows that the buyout vs. loss of revenue for a Hawkins year 2010 points to Hawk getting another year. one of the local TV stations (about the least credible source i can think of)....said that Hawkins told his assistants he's staying**.

however, since CU canceled all their December recruiting trips i still think this may be more speculation or something. but, we'll see. never a dull moment in Boulder....it's always absurdist drama.

**however, Hawkins correct perception of reality/accountability has not been his strong suit, imo.

[Cuda]

He did finally admit it was a mistake to recruit his kid.

Which is the least of their problems- Hansen isn't even as good as Cody and hasn't shown any prospect of ever being as good.

Hawk will be back next season, but probably won't finish it.

Another possibility, however unlikely: Hawkins could quit on his own.

[King Crimson]

looks like checkmate. a win for football at Colorado and another L for Dan Hawkins. DiStefano was probably Hawk's only chance. he's seen as a very faculty/academics friendly admin....so Hawk might have gone to bat for running a (mostly) clean program and having a solid team GPA.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13866040

CU spokesman denies Hawkins report
By John Henderson
The Denver Post
Posted: 11/25/2009 11:40:43 AM MST
Updated: 11/25/2009 11:45:34 AM MST

University of Colorado Head Football Coach Dan Hawkins bites his lip when he declines to respond to a question about the officiating in the CU Buffs loss to Iowa State Cyclones during his weekly press conference on the CU Boulder Campus Monday after noon November 16, 2009. Photo by Paul Aiken / The Boulder Camera / November 16, 2009 (THE DAILY CAMERA | Paul Aiken)

The spokesman for the University of Colorado-Boulder chancellor Phil DiStefano denied a Channel 4 report today that embattled football coach Dan Hawkins will return next year.

Channel 4, citing two sources inside the football program, said Hawkins came away from a meeting with DiStefano with the understanding that he's safe, regardless of what happens in Friday's season finale against Nebraska.

Bronson Hilliard, DiStefano's spokesman, confirmed Hawkins did meet with the chancellor this week, but was given no assurances that he'd return.

"It was a review to review the season and have a frank discussion," Hilliard said. "I don't want to characterize the outcome as an endorsement of the coach. It's certainly Mike Bohn's decision."

Bohn, Colorado's athletic director, is in Hawaii with the men's basketball team at the Maui Invitational. Hilliard emphasized Bohn has the say over DiStefano.

"We don't have a tradition here of the chancellor of the university playing kingmaker on those kind of decisions," Hilliard said. "(Bohn) will keep the chancellor appropriately abreast of the situation. He hasn't had a face-to-face with the coach and he hasn't had a face-to-face with the chancellor. There are two meetings to go before any determination is made on coach Hawkins' future.

In his fourth year, Hawkins is 16-32, including 3-8 this season. Bohn will return for Friday's game and has said he will continue the evaluation process.

John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.

[King Crimson]

now, looks like hawk is back. radio station KOA (voice of the Buffs and morons everywhere).....reports he's back.

he was happier than a pig in shit on his radio show tonight while not talking about anything of substance (despite playing Nebraska in less than 48 hours). just glad-handing reach-arounds to the placed callers who are probably AD staffers getting work-study pay to call in. longtime voice of the Buffs, Larry Zimmer, seemed to lack energy tonight IMO.

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

Worst. Thanksgiving. Ever.

[.m2]

I had previously read that Colorado is retaining Hawkins because the University is cash-strapped, and can't afford his $3MM buyout.

[Danimal]

I feel for you guys, what has Hawkins done that inspires confidence? I've read that the $$ was put together for the buyout. Should've pulled the trigger.

[H4ever]

Cool..... Now I can rest easy from my absurd, inner fears of Watson throwing the game in order to secure the CU job next year.

[King Crimson]

Cool..... Now I can rest easy from my absurd, inner fears of Watson throwing the game in order to secure the CU job next year.

no way they'd ever have Watson back here. He's not well-liked (by fans, at least).

to the subject of money and a Hawkins buyout, i think it was a necessary but not sufficient reason for retaining the guy. CU grad Chris Fowler said a couple times last weekend that CU had the money in place. what you heard this week was much of the same. As much as anything, I think CU feared a public/PR back-lash for the expenditure in today's stimulus world. It's my feeling, confirmed by a buddy who has a more admin elevated job than me at CU and on more exclusive email list inside the Castle (Kafka), that the chancellor (DiStefano) and AD Bohn are playing the wait and see game since it's likely Hawk falls on his sword for them next year by winning 3-5 games (tough schedule: OOC at Cal and UGA in Boulder, along with CSU....and the conference schedule has them travel to OU, MU, NU, and KU)....and they get to come in and clean up the mess with a year or preparation under their belt vs. putting the already precarious position of the program on their accountability plates by making a quick hire in the next month or so where they are likely to get turned down by real first choices (like Kelly, Patterson, etc.) and be left with a range of second-tier choices (the Bill Callahan Scenario, if you will). then, it's on them.

and who knows, there's the 1 in 10 chance that Hawk's mostly inane, nonsensical interpretations of his own program may be true and CU is a good team next year which saves everybody's bacon in the short-term.

I think what they say publicly about Hawk's team being good citizens and solid in the classroom is true (DiStefano is an academics first admin, and probably Hawk's biggest benefactor at least now; President Benson is first full-time prez since the halcyon bad PR days of L'Affaire Ward Churchill and the recruiting party fallout under Barney....so, he doesn't want any drama)...and they like that. Yet, in organizational behavior people act to secure or improve their relationship with the institutional structure and it's internal rules as a primary motive....and admins here effectively take themselves out of the long-term perception of blame when it goes even further south. and when it does, get to play good guy next year. Bohn's ass is still on the line, but if he admits a mistake now he precludes being able to say "we gave Dan every chance and this (bad football but good citizens) is something we stand behind and asked Dan to give us (after Barnett)". it's not true, but gives the indirect perception that "this" was an unfortunate byproduct of the "real plan". moreover, suggests that the admins even make the "tough decisions" based on principle (which makes me giggle a little bit). because i think there's a lot of self-interest and a long-term strategy to let Hawk hang himself if need be. when he wins 4 next year, they can say we gotta have the wins because this year they made a big show about the integrity of CU and it's commitment to the proper mission of academics therein. which is, if i haven't made myself 100% clear, a pretty shifty gambit based more on their self-interest imo.

though, polls on CU boards are running about 85% against the decision to retain Dan (and his ever self-referential, 3rd person love affair with talking about himself). not a popular move.