What the hell?
Now we all know CU has had it’s share of mess, but the HAWK beginning is just plan stupid. You can not tell me with the nation greatest field kicker, a great defense, and a Doak Walker candidate running back and a host of other good players that helped Barnett to win that this is a bad team because of players only. Hawk has a serious problem he does not know how to use the best of what he has. Furthermore, the man believes in running the stuffing out of these his guys during the week in the BIG 12 and expects them to be ready on Saturday. Hey, Hawk this is not POTATO land this is the BIG12, yeah real football. Hawk has embarrassed the state. Bohn you’ve talked a good talk, but you lied to us. Perhaps you are a great Marketeer, but a man who knows football at this level you are not. We notice Cody was saved from being a QB, while Hawks first and second QB sucked. Yeah, so he saves his kid as a red-shirt even when the team needed him. Hawk has no respect for the guys on his team and the team has no respect for him. Even with the media mess and/or other scandals GB was able to keep these boys playing.
CU is going to have a big price to pay next season if good players are not drafted this year or next. Who wants to go to a school that does help players get to the next level when coaches are being paid a premium. Hawk and Bohn we sure hope you have no skeletons because GB didn’t. Now that GB is in the media and you’ve talked trash about him and you are losing, get ready. Hawk, what you’ve done to the future of the youngmen that were good players is to crushed their dreams. Keep in mind every dog has its day!
Today you are the dog! No kid fails that many times with a good teacher. Bohn you should have looked for mature, but the sky diver is too loose for CU. We did not need it and we do not deserve it.
CU Fan 4 ever
mark helfrich
Great QB selection and plays! BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Next time, study film and do not rely on your past NFL experience. Might be why it’s previous vs present. God, even Watson won at times.
CU Fan 4 Ever
CU Football: THE laughing stock of college football! Rebuilding is one thing, but en route to a 10 loss season means one thing plain and simple… your new coach is awful. Sucks to be a Buff….
Once again, Bring Barnett back!! Suck it up CU and do it! Fire Hawk and bring Barnett back! Hawkins can’t cut it at this level. I am so pissed to see the program come down to this. I said we should give it some time earlier this year, but enough is enough! You had 10 losses over 5 years at Boise State. Whoop de freaking do! Thanks for tearing Barnetts team down! I hope you realize what you have caused here in Boulder! You suck, lets just face it! You can’t call a play to save the set of downs, game, or season. I think its time you step down or CU fires you! Bring Barnett back and do it before next week so maybe we can salvage a 3 win season! GO BUFFALOES!
Sure, the season is a dismal failure, but for the sake of all that is good, don’t even think of bringing Barnett back. WHO GOT US HERE? BARNETT.
Hawk should not be judged til his third season.
I doubt he thinks this year was a success, but give the man a chance. Do you not remember what it was like when every story in the news about CU football involved recruiting violations and rape?
I’ll take 1-11 Hawk over Barnett any day. Things will change – slowly. Have patience. Hawk has already out recruited Barnett, and we’re 1-9! Think about that.
I don’t know Duffman, yes Barnett was a scumbag BUT at least he never lost 11 games in a season. There is no team in the country aside from maybe Duke that makes as many stupid coaching decisions as Hawk has this year. A lot of the Buffs problems this season are not necessarily personell problems but rather countless instances of Hawk just getting plain out-coached. He looks like a high school coach playing Big 12 teams. Like a deer in the headlights. Let’s face it, the WAC is no Big 12 and this is not the “new era” we were hoping for.
“barnett was the best coach since McCartney in my opinion!”
rofl, umm you’re comparing Barnett to slick Rick?! good one, jury is still out on Hawkins so it’s not a fair assessment
First, Being better than Slick Rick means nothing. Go look at Barnett’s record in total. Mediocre and on a downward spiral due to the lack of adult supervision at CU during his tenure. Not all his fault, but he had an opportunity to change it and either wouldn’t or couldn’t.
Second, Barnett may have won more games than Hawk, but look at where the program was headed. His squads gave up when they were down, even if they were capable of winning. Hawk’s keep playing, even if they suck. Funny thing is that it is the SAME players.
Who recruited the current players? Where is the backup for Klatt? Why does BJ look like a freshman QB? Why has the recruiting been in the toilet for the past few years? We were like .0000003 points away from playing in a National Championship, and what happens? Rape. Booze. Scandal. Stupid remarks. No wonder the best players went elsewhere. Go to rivals.com and look what Hawk has accomplished so far this year – *with a team with one win*. I’m impressed, frankly.
Look at Oklahoma State. Go back a couple years to when they were in the toilet with a new coach. They adjusted. So will the Buffs. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. Barnett would just have meant another 7-5 season (at best), perhaps another beat down in the Big XII championship, another bowl game loss, another weak recruiting class, and another year of reading about how f’d up and unethical the CU program is. Better than 1-9? Sort of. But I’ll take my chances with Hawk. CU will be better for it in the long run.
The Big XII is not the WAC, but in the Big XII, Hawk will have access to Big XII players, not WAC players. He will raise the bar – give the man a chance. CU was in terrible terrible shape. It ain’t easy to fix that kind of rot.
You can cover for Hawk all you want but BJac was not a QB for a reason. Did you ever think of that? It should have been White. Hawk watched too many Vince Young films.1-10/11 is too many blunders. A third season, if Hawk has as bad a season next year should we still wait for a third? Hawk, is out classed in the BIG 12. The teams are playing with NFL formations. This in and out stuff is high school. Many of the guys can not even get into a zone. I wonder who will transfer next year and show CU it was not them with the problem? The scandles is gone but this is worse. At least the scandle did not cause a 10 game failing team, plus the world did not find a thing even with a Senate committee.
The only problem Barnett had was he did not fire Watson to save his skin. We know that will not happen with Hawk. As for new players let’s see come Feb., talk is cheap.
It will take Hawk 4 years to get his system fully in place. If you think otherwise, you’re dreaming. Don’t trash him until the work is done.
Hawk took supposedly “high school” talent and beat BCS teams with it. He outranked Barnett and all his Big XII talent with it. That’s a fact. the big XII ain’t the pros – it’s all college ball.
What BCS caliber teams did Boise State beat in Hawk’s tenure there? Looking back at their records over the past 6 years they have lost to every legitimate D-1 team they ever played. They lost to Boston College in last year’s bowl (the only major team they played in all of 05), before that they lost to Louisiville (the only major opponent they faced in 04). In 03 they barely beat a very mediocre Texas Christian. In 02 they beat Iowa State in the Humanitarian Bowl (whooptido!).
Boise State always was a pretender and Hawk always will be a pretender. CU could have gone out and hired someone with at least somewhat of a major conference Head Coach experience or better yet some major NFL experience, but no… they hired a nobody in Hawk and when you come into a program like Colorado and lose 10 GAMES, it should be pretty obvious to all of you that he is a joke. Wait 4 years? Are you kidding me? The Buffs will be begging for another coaching change within the next 2-3 years. Can you say loser?!?
“Hawk took supposedly “high school” talent and beat BCS teams with it. He outranked Barnett and all his Big XII talent with it. That’s a fact.”
This is perhaps one of the most ridiculous mistruths that has ever been posted on this site.
Fire Hawk Now!
Bring Barnett back??? You can’t seriously be considering that as an option! Hawkins is already bringing in a better recruiting class than Barnett ever did, and he’s doing it even though we’re 1-9 right now.
If you’re craving for Barnett than I’d assume you’d jump at a chance to have Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) coach Colorado next year. He took his team to four straight January bowl games, but he went 1-10 his first season. Notice to the fair-weather fans: Rebuilding takes time, and just because we haven’t been putting up the W’s doesn’t mean we aren’t improving. Two or three seasons from now all of the cowardly, ignorant, and short-sighted Buff fans who have been criticizing Hawk will be on the band-wagon again talking about how they knew Hawk was great all along. Quit day-dreaming about Barnett — he got us into this mess and screwed up our program even more than Slick Rick! It takes time.
What part of that “mistruth” got you all worked up? The fact that Hawk has beaten BCS teams with all those terible WAC players? Or that his teams have outranked the majority of BCS teams for more than a few weeks, with all those wimply little WAC players. Take a look at the team he left at BSU for this year. You don’t think he influnced them?
Save it. Hawk more than proved he knows how to coach at BSU, and has at least a decent shot at having a good impact at CU. You are on crack if you think a good program can be built in a year or two, especially given the mess that the program was left in.
Even if you don’t think Hawk was the right guy for the job, just who else would have worked? Bob Stoops? Mack Brown? Yeah, take another hit off that bong. We were lucky to get a D1A head coach at all, let alone a successful one.
The sure way to guarantee 1-11 seasons is to switch coaches every two years. Thankfully, there are adults in charge who understand this.
Ok, still asking… what Bowl Championship Series teams has Hawk beaten even at Boise State?
I’d like to know what teams during what years? The current rankings mean NOTHING if the Broncos have beaten NOBODY!
To refresh your memory here is BS’s factual record… http://michigan-football.com/ncaa/f/boisesta.htm
Hawk is a PRETENDER. What a joke…
Oregon State. Iowa State. There may be others, but I don’t care enough to check.
You’re missing the point. The point is he took playes from a conference that has NO CHANCE of winning a national championship (think that doesn’t restrict his recruiting ability?) and competed with supposedly real conferences like the Big XII and Pac 10. There were some very close games witih other good teams. It takes a good coach to do that.
Settle Down…
God, what are we, Phila Eagles fans from the 70′s? Give him a year or two. He’s got a great recruiting class going, he’ll come through. I’m not gonna sit here and argue about whether a coach from Baylor or Boise is better just b/c of the conference he’s in, but I’ll tell ya one thing. You guys who are calling for Barnett back are trying to pick your peaches before they’re fuzzed up good.
Firing Hawk now will just cause many of the recruits he has gotten this year to go elsewhere, and that would leave us with another poor recruiting class. We didn’t fire McCartney when he went 1-10, and that was in his 3rd year so the “other guys players” excuse really didn’t apply.
It is so nice to see some passionate debate amongst our fans. Too bad we all happen to be the most fickle fans in college football. We just have other things going on in our lives, we don’t live and die with our college like the fans in teh SEC or Big 10 do. But, I must say I agree with all of the points raised in this blog. First and foremost, we all know Barnett isn’t coming back. We all loved Barney for one reason or another, and he at least won a handful of games every season. So, I agree with you all that Barnett is not the answer. Second – Hawk is not the coach he is cracked up to be. I like the analogy that he is a glorified high school coach – that is dead on. After every loss, he just harps on the positives and commends the players for fighting hard and doing the right thing. We should expect that from our high school coaches – not from Big 12 coaches. Do you see Bob Stoops or Callahan coddle their players like Hawk does? No – you see them get in their player’s faces and demand progress. Sorry, but our kids need a good yelling at or kick in the ass. Hawk has made them believe that our record is acceptable because we are playing “good football.” Well, that may have cut it in the WAC, but you are in the big leagues now, and we shouldn’t care that our kids played a good game more than we should demand that our players go out there and make the type of plays that were expected of them when they were recruited by a strong CU team. I see that in the players faces now – they have accepted losing because they are not held accountable. This all comes back to coaching – again, our high school coaches were like this. Hawk is not the answer and never will be. Of course, 2 years ago I was writing to the AD and begging him to court Urban Meyer to come to CU. Didn’t happen. And look how that turned out. The difference being that Meyer inherited a good, but troubled team, much like ours. Being a talented coach, he helped them reach dominance again, while Utah suffered due to his departure. Now look at Utah. Flip the coin and look at Boise State – having a great year due to the fact that the players have a great system – not the coach. Insert Coach Hawk in our team – still quality athletes, but we play to lose. His system is not working and won’t work. Like one of you said earlier, this is a much more complex conference than the WAC. Heck, I almost expect Hawk to bring back the fumblerooski and the statue of liberty sometimes! Plays that we did in the back yard! Third – our coaching staff is outcoached and underprepared. Sure, I know this is their first year in the big leagues, but come on, you mean to tell me that after ten games we still haven’t figured out how to move the ball consistently? This is not the answer, and these guys are not the remedy. This should only be temporary. My answer? The best coaching lead we ever had these past few years was Gary Kubiak, but he wouldn’t take the bait. We need an NFL experienced coach to take the helm. Notre Dame, USC and Nebraska have it right – bring in an ex-NFL guy to instill the professional work ethic in these kids and set goals. Hawk’s ra-ra Zen crap may make the kids feel good after getting embarrassed by freshman QBs, but its costing him the fan base. Nobody is excited for the last two games of the season, heck, the students don’t even show up for kickoff! Can you name any other D-1 team who has won the Natl Championship in the last 15 years who doesn’t have full capacity until halftime? Amazing. This season and all of its news, commentary and feel-good euphamisms belong right next to your toilet paper roll.
Beating Iowa State once back in 2002 (which was a 7 LOSS season for Cyclones) hardly constitutes “competing” with the Big 12! And Oregon State? Are you really serious? One of the bottom feeders of an always over-rated PAC 10? Boise State and Hawk have NEVER beaten or even competed with Bowl Championship Series caliber teams. NEVER. You say I’m missing the point, yet you keep professing that Hawk and BSU accomplished these things that clearly they did not. Check the facts, Hawk is a minor league coach in every way, CU could have done sooo much better. And we still should. Wasting the next 2-4 years on a lesser coach is beneath us.
You guys are nuts. We can’t afford to hire ANY coach now, let alone an NFL coach. Since we’re dreaming, I suppose it would be nice to go back in time and pull the team from the mid 90′s out of our collective ass and use those guys. Maybe we can get Salaam and Brown together on the same team! Yeah, that would rock.
How is it that someone can “pretend” to win for so many years? This blog is such a great resource – look at all the big time coaches that read it! Who do you think comes up with the “system” that allows teams like BSU to dominate thier conference? The fans? The AD? Bob Stoops? Santa Claus?
Nobody is saying Hawk is the best coach in D1A, or that this season wasn’t worse than it could have been. But he is without a doubt the best coach that CU could have gotten last year given the circumstances. And he may prove to be one of the best – if knucklehead fans give the man a chance to recruit some players and teach them. Even this year’s class was not his own. I know this is hard to swallow, but it will be at least four years before this gets good. Next year will not be pretty. The year after will be mediocre. After that, that more of the same, but maybe a decent bowl game. 5-6 years down the road – If I were a betting man, and I am, I’d say CU wins a Big XII championship.
Man, am I glad that cooler heads will prevail.
Fair enough D-Man, please let me clarify…. “pretender” in the sense that Hawk is completely unproven against major respected teams. So many Buffs have initially bought into the hype that this was some big time coach. Nothing could be further from the truth. CU is a major Big 12 program and this was a terrible hire. Now you’re talking 5-6 years. No respectable major conference program has the patience to wait 5-6 years for an unproven coach to prove himself. The fact that we blew our collective wad financially on this misadventure sucks. And you’re right in that there is probably nothing we can do about it now. But having this discussion about Hawk’s true qualifications is fair game for the true Black and Gold faithful considering a 10 loss season.
We’re not talking about Bob Stoops. He has proven he is a great coach at this level. We’re talking about Colorado. A one win first season for Hawk tells volumes. He has enough athletes on this team to win more than one freaking game! Clearly many of the issues are coaching issues. BTW, Do you think the Sooners would have tolerated a 10 loss season in Stoops first outing. I don’t think so. That program always has been and always will be hard core enough to make the right decisions for it’s team and admit failure when it’s time to move on. Our administrators and boosters could learn from that mentality.
Hello? Duffman? Bob Stoops worked with Hayden Fry at Iowa, was defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier for 3 years at Florida, and as co-defensive coordinator was one of the main architects of Kansas State’s initial rise to prominence under Bill Snyder. That is exactly the kind of experience Hawk does NOT have! Exactly the kind of experience that WE deserve!
CU ain’t OU. Even been to Norman? Not much there but football. Much like Lincoln in a lot of ways. Sure, Stoops is great. We don’t know if Hawkins is or not. All we know is that he’s done well in the past with the talent he was able to recruit at those levels. Why doubt him now?
Keep in mind, this was a school where parents were afraid to send their sons to play football becasue they didn’t want them to wind up in jail for rape or worse.
I’m not trying to say that 1-9 is good, or even expected. It’s not. It’s a bad season, and the coaches deserve some blame – perhaps for changing too much too fast. Or perhaps the real blame is the sorry state of the program left by the last bunch of administrators and coaches. Hard to say. But to say that Hawkins isn’t a good coach because he hasn’t had the opportunity to coach at the BCS level *under normal conditions* is a bit short sighted. This is not a normal situation, and you can’t expect the recovery to be a quick one.
Fire, et.al., My head hurts and I have work to do. You make some good points – perhaps they could have hired a coach with more BCS level experience. Perhaps not. In any case – we got what we got, and I’m pretty happy with the choice, personally.
Best of luck to the Buffs.
Wow, never thought I would hear “Bring Barnett back” from this bunch. That is crazy. Give Hawk some time. This year has been terrible with out a doubt, but not enough to be calling for Gare-Bare to come back and return us too… mediocre football and world class scandle.
It takes time for a coach to show his true colors, right? I mean, we though Neuheisle to be a virtual god for three seasons till we figured him out. He compiled a staggering 33-14 (.702) record and was 3-0 in postseason bowl games. After his third year things started to go down hill, and we can assume that is because he was playing with “his team” and not the remnants of the McCartney era.
Give the Hawk some time. I don’t care who they are playing, his boys at Boise State are playing some winning football. I beleive that he can replicate that success here in Boulder. And beleive me, if we don’t see improvement soon (I’m talking next year) I’ll join you in criticising him. But not until he is given a fair chance.
I beleive that he can replicate that success here in Boulder. And beleive me, if we don’t see improvement soon (I’m talking next year) I’ll join you in criticising him. But not until he is given a fair chance.
Steve, I agree with what you’re saying overall, but we shouldn’t expect a drastic turnaround next year either. It’s going to take 3 years before we see Colorado regain it’s status as a football power. To all the haters of Hawkins: The man has already complied an impressive recruiting class and it will only get better. Be patient – our time is coming.
Who the heck has two or three years after going through the crap at CU for three or four years. Surely not the juniors and seniors or their parents. Why not send your kid to a school that has had nothing but problems since your kid arrived and a final blow of 1-10. Yes,see how you like it. At least Gary supported and helped the next level careers of the kids that were his starters & seniors. Now there is no loyalty and it does look like high school ball.
Parents can not even come into Dalward after a game and hear words of encouragement of any kind from the head coach. Win or loss. Hawk has issues, just listen to his press conferences, double talk mombojumbo. I guarantee he will not be a commentator like GB is today, if he fails here.
Hawk is not a Stoops or GB and never will be because he lacks the class and respect Stoops & GB has/had for thier players. When Stoops players are hurt Stoops respects the positions, Hawk does not. When they struggle in a game Stoop doesn’t come home and make them run for punishment the next day,that’s high school. Even when injuried Hawk wants his team to practice at 110% and he is in the Big12 with no by week. Wow! The week before the first game he beat the guys up so much they had the most injuries in the history of CU prior to an opening game. What the hell was he thinking? Obviously, he does not understand the magnatude of the Big12.
All I can say, if you are a recruit coming to CU beware of Hawk. The words he speaks do not align themselves with his actions. You are a day labor guy with Hawk, not a career man. If you do not believe me read evey article and press release on the CUBuffs website and see where he stands now or better yet survey the players off-line.
Even our golden child Mason has struggled this year under Hawk….Hummmmm Fortuately, for him he is a senior with three great previous years.
Anyone that did not get kudo’s before Hawk will not get them now.
Players keep your heads up, we know somethings were your fault this season in regard to the losses. But realize that we also know, that having a coach that didn’t respect you for your past efforts also weighed heavy on your hearts. You can only take so much abuse before you crack and/or fail it is the law of nature.
For those graduating we wish you all the best of success. For those staying another year who want to play ball at the next level please look at all your opitions and good luck to you! For those who know football is over after college, we wish you all the best too.
Go Buffs!
Since when has college football been about guiding the tiny minority of players who can make it into the NFL? The best will make it no matter where they play. It is not Hawk’s job to make sure your kid gets into the NFL. It’s his job to build a winning program – which is much bigger than any one class or player.
Duffman, you should be the CU media relations manager – you’ve got so much spin on your comments you would think Hawk is paying your salary? Do have have anything critical to say about Hawk, or are you satisfied with 1-10 records as long as our players are nominated for humanitarian of the year? CU Football Parent, I agree with you – Hawk is a spin master along the likes of Shepherd Smith, and as I said earlier, could convince a majority of CU fans (like Duffman) that a pile of dung on a plate is actually filet mignon! Dig in! Can we please get real? Team is horrible, and Dave Logan could outcoach our beloved Hawk!
Hawk sucks. This is the worst coaching hire in the entire NCAA, at least in the past couple of years. I agree completely with Fire Hawk Now. He’s a small time coach with no major league experience who has now mired CU into mediocrity for the next several years. Admittedly I hate CU, one part of me loves that your program is down and out for the count because your evil fan base deserves it, but mostly I’m sad for the Big XII.
Let’s Go Cyclones! Let’s Go Cyclones! ISU is gonna be hungry to win one for outgoing McCarney and the hapless Buffs are just the right pushover to satisy that urge!
Yes- I think Hawk has performed poorly this season. Even the current crop of players with all the chaos should have been able to pull out a 5 win season at worst. He should have won more games. I just think the expectations people are putting on him in the first year are out of line with reality. I’ll say it again – it will take 3-5 years before you see a team you can fairly pass judgement upon.
November 4th, 2006 on 10:46 am
This comment has been removed due to offensive content
November 4th, 2006 on 1:20 pm
November is truely FANTASTIC!!!!
November 4th, 2006 on 3:02 pm
Wow. What a suck-ass half. Next year can’t come too soon. This team gots no mojo.
November 4th, 2006 on 3:56 pm
What the hell?
Now we all know CU has had it’s share of mess, but the HAWK beginning is just plan stupid. You can not tell me with the nation greatest field kicker, a great defense, and a Doak Walker candidate running back and a host of other good players that helped Barnett to win that this is a bad team because of players only. Hawk has a serious problem he does not know how to use the best of what he has. Furthermore, the man believes in running the stuffing out of these his guys during the week in the BIG 12 and expects them to be ready on Saturday. Hey, Hawk this is not POTATO land this is the BIG12, yeah real football. Hawk has embarrassed the state. Bohn you’ve talked a good talk, but you lied to us. Perhaps you are a great Marketeer, but a man who knows football at this level you are not. We notice Cody was saved from being a QB, while Hawks first and second QB sucked. Yeah, so he saves his kid as a red-shirt even when the team needed him. Hawk has no respect for the guys on his team and the team has no respect for him. Even with the media mess and/or other scandals GB was able to keep these boys playing.
CU is going to have a big price to pay next season if good players are not drafted this year or next. Who wants to go to a school that does help players get to the next level when coaches are being paid a premium. Hawk and Bohn we sure hope you have no skeletons because GB didn’t. Now that GB is in the media and you’ve talked trash about him and you are losing, get ready. Hawk, what you’ve done to the future of the youngmen that were good players is to crushed their dreams. Keep in mind every dog has its day!
Today you are the dog! No kid fails that many times with a good teacher. Bohn you should have looked for mature, but the sky diver is too loose for CU. We did not need it and we do not deserve it.
CU Fan 4 ever
November 4th, 2006 on 4:00 pm
What a great quarter! This team got some mojo back!
November 4th, 2006 on 4:14 pm
mark helfrich
Great QB selection and plays! BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Next time, study film and do not rely on your past NFL experience. Might be why it’s previous vs present. God, even Watson won at times.
CU Fan 4 Ever
November 4th, 2006 on 4:17 pm
Bohn we need an EAGLE…….. How much did we pay for this?
November 4th, 2006 on 4:18 pm
CU Football: THE laughing stock of college football! Rebuilding is one thing, but en route to a 10 loss season means one thing plain and simple… your new coach is awful. Sucks to be a Buff….
November 4th, 2006 on 4:51 pm
Once again, Bring Barnett back!! Suck it up CU and do it! Fire Hawk and bring Barnett back! Hawkins can’t cut it at this level. I am so pissed to see the program come down to this. I said we should give it some time earlier this year, but enough is enough! You had 10 losses over 5 years at Boise State. Whoop de freaking do! Thanks for tearing Barnetts team down! I hope you realize what you have caused here in Boulder! You suck, lets just face it! You can’t call a play to save the set of downs, game, or season. I think its time you step down or CU fires you! Bring Barnett back and do it before next week so maybe we can salvage a 3 win season! GO BUFFALOES!
November 4th, 2006 on 5:00 pm
Sure, the season is a dismal failure, but for the sake of all that is good, don’t even think of bringing Barnett back. WHO GOT US HERE? BARNETT.
Hawk should not be judged til his third season.
I doubt he thinks this year was a success, but give the man a chance. Do you not remember what it was like when every story in the news about CU football involved recruiting violations and rape?
I’ll take 1-11 Hawk over Barnett any day. Things will change – slowly. Have patience. Hawk has already out recruited Barnett, and we’re 1-9! Think about that.
November 4th, 2006 on 5:57 pm
I don’t know Duffman, yes Barnett was a scumbag BUT at least he never lost 11 games in a season. There is no team in the country aside from maybe Duke that makes as many stupid coaching decisions as Hawk has this year. A lot of the Buffs problems this season are not necessarily personell problems but rather countless instances of Hawk just getting plain out-coached. He looks like a high school coach playing Big 12 teams. Like a deer in the headlights. Let’s face it, the WAC is no Big 12 and this is not the “new era” we were hoping for.
November 4th, 2006 on 7:13 pm
barnett was the best coach since McCartney in my opinion! He took us back the National Championship caliber football! BRING BARNETT BACK!
November 4th, 2006 on 7:29 pm
“barnett was the best coach since McCartney in my opinion!”
rofl, umm you’re comparing Barnett to slick Rick?! good one, jury is still out on Hawkins so it’s not a fair assessment
November 4th, 2006 on 7:39 pm
First, Being better than Slick Rick means nothing. Go look at Barnett’s record in total. Mediocre and on a downward spiral due to the lack of adult supervision at CU during his tenure. Not all his fault, but he had an opportunity to change it and either wouldn’t or couldn’t.
Second, Barnett may have won more games than Hawk, but look at where the program was headed. His squads gave up when they were down, even if they were capable of winning. Hawk’s keep playing, even if they suck. Funny thing is that it is the SAME players.
Who recruited the current players? Where is the backup for Klatt? Why does BJ look like a freshman QB? Why has the recruiting been in the toilet for the past few years? We were like .0000003 points away from playing in a National Championship, and what happens? Rape. Booze. Scandal. Stupid remarks. No wonder the best players went elsewhere. Go to rivals.com and look what Hawk has accomplished so far this year – *with a team with one win*. I’m impressed, frankly.
Look at Oklahoma State. Go back a couple years to when they were in the toilet with a new coach. They adjusted. So will the Buffs. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. Barnett would just have meant another 7-5 season (at best), perhaps another beat down in the Big XII championship, another bowl game loss, another weak recruiting class, and another year of reading about how f’d up and unethical the CU program is. Better than 1-9? Sort of. But I’ll take my chances with Hawk. CU will be better for it in the long run.
The Big XII is not the WAC, but in the Big XII, Hawk will have access to Big XII players, not WAC players. He will raise the bar – give the man a chance. CU was in terrible terrible shape. It ain’t easy to fix that kind of rot.
November 4th, 2006 on 8:34 pm
Hey Buffs,
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Looking forward to Nov. 24…
Hugs and Kisses,
BSMC
November 5th, 2006 on 2:08 am
You can cover for Hawk all you want but BJac was not a QB for a reason. Did you ever think of that? It should have been White. Hawk watched too many Vince Young films.1-10/11 is too many blunders. A third season, if Hawk has as bad a season next year should we still wait for a third? Hawk, is out classed in the BIG 12. The teams are playing with NFL formations. This in and out stuff is high school. Many of the guys can not even get into a zone. I wonder who will transfer next year and show CU it was not them with the problem? The scandles is gone but this is worse. At least the scandle did not cause a 10 game failing team, plus the world did not find a thing even with a Senate committee.
The only problem Barnett had was he did not fire Watson to save his skin. We know that will not happen with Hawk. As for new players let’s see come Feb., talk is cheap.
November 5th, 2006 on 9:54 am
It will take Hawk 4 years to get his system fully in place. If you think otherwise, you’re dreaming. Don’t trash him until the work is done.
Hawk took supposedly “high school” talent and beat BCS teams with it. He outranked Barnett and all his Big XII talent with it. That’s a fact. the big XII ain’t the pros – it’s all college ball.
November 5th, 2006 on 12:02 pm
What BCS caliber teams did Boise State beat in Hawk’s tenure there? Looking back at their records over the past 6 years they have lost to every legitimate D-1 team they ever played. They lost to Boston College in last year’s bowl (the only major team they played in all of 05), before that they lost to Louisiville (the only major opponent they faced in 04). In 03 they barely beat a very mediocre Texas Christian. In 02 they beat Iowa State in the Humanitarian Bowl (whooptido!).
Boise State always was a pretender and Hawk always will be a pretender. CU could have gone out and hired someone with at least somewhat of a major conference Head Coach experience or better yet some major NFL experience, but no… they hired a nobody in Hawk and when you come into a program like Colorado and lose 10 GAMES, it should be pretty obvious to all of you that he is a joke. Wait 4 years? Are you kidding me? The Buffs will be begging for another coaching change within the next 2-3 years. Can you say loser?!?
November 5th, 2006 on 12:22 pm
I agree with Realistic Buff! Please bring Barnett back!
November 5th, 2006 on 1:16 pm
“Hawk took supposedly “high school” talent and beat BCS teams with it. He outranked Barnett and all his Big XII talent with it. That’s a fact.”
This is perhaps one of the most ridiculous mistruths that has ever been posted on this site.
Fire Hawk Now!
November 5th, 2006 on 1:17 pm
Bring Barnett back??? You can’t seriously be considering that as an option! Hawkins is already bringing in a better recruiting class than Barnett ever did, and he’s doing it even though we’re 1-9 right now.
If you’re craving for Barnett than I’d assume you’d jump at a chance to have Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) coach Colorado next year. He took his team to four straight January bowl games, but he went 1-10 his first season.
Notice to the fair-weather fans: Rebuilding takes time, and just because we haven’t been putting up the W’s doesn’t mean we aren’t improving. Two or three seasons from now all of the cowardly, ignorant, and short-sighted Buff fans who have been criticizing Hawk will be on the band-wagon again talking about how they knew Hawk was great all along.
Quit day-dreaming about Barnett — he got us into this mess and screwed up our program even more than Slick Rick! It takes time.
November 5th, 2006 on 1:41 pm
What part of that “mistruth” got you all worked up? The fact that Hawk has beaten BCS teams with all those terible WAC players? Or that his teams have outranked the majority of BCS teams for more than a few weeks, with all those wimply little WAC players. Take a look at the team he left at BSU for this year. You don’t think he influnced them?
Save it. Hawk more than proved he knows how to coach at BSU, and has at least a decent shot at having a good impact at CU. You are on crack if you think a good program can be built in a year or two, especially given the mess that the program was left in.
Even if you don’t think Hawk was the right guy for the job, just who else would have worked? Bob Stoops? Mack Brown? Yeah, take another hit off that bong. We were lucky to get a D1A head coach at all, let alone a successful one.
The sure way to guarantee 1-11 seasons is to switch coaches every two years. Thankfully, there are adults in charge who understand this.
November 5th, 2006 on 7:31 pm
Ok, still asking… what Bowl Championship Series teams has Hawk beaten even at Boise State?
I’d like to know what teams during what years? The current rankings mean NOTHING if the Broncos have beaten NOBODY!
To refresh your memory here is BS’s factual record…
http://michigan-football.com/ncaa/f/boisesta.htm
Hawk is a PRETENDER. What a joke…
November 6th, 2006 on 7:46 am
Oregon State. Iowa State. There may be others, but I don’t care enough to check.
You’re missing the point. The point is he took playes from a conference that has NO CHANCE of winning a national championship (think that doesn’t restrict his recruiting ability?) and competed with supposedly real conferences like the Big XII and Pac 10. There were some very close games witih other good teams. It takes a good coach to do that.
November 6th, 2006 on 9:10 am
Settle Down…
God, what are we, Phila Eagles fans from the 70′s? Give him a year or two. He’s got a great recruiting class going, he’ll come through. I’m not gonna sit here and argue about whether a coach from Baylor or Boise is better just b/c of the conference he’s in, but I’ll tell ya one thing. You guys who are calling for Barnett back are trying to pick your peaches before they’re fuzzed up good.
November 6th, 2006 on 1:21 pm
Firing Hawk now will just cause many of the recruits he has gotten this year to go elsewhere, and that would leave us with another poor recruiting class. We didn’t fire McCartney when he went 1-10, and that was in his 3rd year so the “other guys players” excuse really didn’t apply.
November 6th, 2006 on 5:18 pm
It is so nice to see some passionate debate amongst our fans. Too bad we all happen to be the most fickle fans in college football. We just have other things going on in our lives, we don’t live and die with our college like the fans in teh SEC or Big 10 do. But, I must say I agree with all of the points raised in this blog. First and foremost, we all know Barnett isn’t coming back. We all loved Barney for one reason or another, and he at least won a handful of games every season. So, I agree with you all that Barnett is not the answer. Second – Hawk is not the coach he is cracked up to be. I like the analogy that he is a glorified high school coach – that is dead on. After every loss, he just harps on the positives and commends the players for fighting hard and doing the right thing. We should expect that from our high school coaches – not from Big 12 coaches. Do you see Bob Stoops or Callahan coddle their players like Hawk does? No – you see them get in their player’s faces and demand progress. Sorry, but our kids need a good yelling at or kick in the ass. Hawk has made them believe that our record is acceptable because we are playing “good football.” Well, that may have cut it in the WAC, but you are in the big leagues now, and we shouldn’t care that our kids played a good game more than we should demand that our players go out there and make the type of plays that were expected of them when they were recruited by a strong CU team. I see that in the players faces now – they have accepted losing because they are not held accountable. This all comes back to coaching – again, our high school coaches were like this. Hawk is not the answer and never will be. Of course, 2 years ago I was writing to the AD and begging him to court Urban Meyer to come to CU. Didn’t happen. And look how that turned out. The difference being that Meyer inherited a good, but troubled team, much like ours. Being a talented coach, he helped them reach dominance again, while Utah suffered due to his departure. Now look at Utah. Flip the coin and look at Boise State – having a great year due to the fact that the players have a great system – not the coach. Insert Coach Hawk in our team – still quality athletes, but we play to lose. His system is not working and won’t work. Like one of you said earlier, this is a much more complex conference than the WAC. Heck, I almost expect Hawk to bring back the fumblerooski and the statue of liberty sometimes! Plays that we did in the back yard! Third – our coaching staff is outcoached and underprepared. Sure, I know this is their first year in the big leagues, but come on, you mean to tell me that after ten games we still haven’t figured out how to move the ball consistently? This is not the answer, and these guys are not the remedy. This should only be temporary. My answer? The best coaching lead we ever had these past few years was Gary Kubiak, but he wouldn’t take the bait. We need an NFL experienced coach to take the helm. Notre Dame, USC and Nebraska have it right – bring in an ex-NFL guy to instill the professional work ethic in these kids and set goals. Hawk’s ra-ra Zen crap may make the kids feel good after getting embarrassed by freshman QBs, but its costing him the fan base. Nobody is excited for the last two games of the season, heck, the students don’t even show up for kickoff! Can you name any other D-1 team who has won the Natl Championship in the last 15 years who doesn’t have full capacity until halftime? Amazing. This season and all of its news, commentary and feel-good euphamisms belong right next to your toilet paper roll.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:17 pm
Beating Iowa State once back in 2002 (which was a 7 LOSS season for Cyclones) hardly constitutes “competing” with the Big 12! And Oregon State? Are you really serious? One of the bottom feeders of an always over-rated PAC 10? Boise State and Hawk have NEVER beaten or even competed with Bowl Championship Series caliber teams. NEVER. You say I’m missing the point, yet you keep professing that Hawk and BSU accomplished these things that clearly they did not. Check the facts, Hawk is a minor league coach in every way, CU could have done sooo much better. And we still should. Wasting the next 2-4 years on a lesser coach is beneath us.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:25 pm
You guys are nuts. We can’t afford to hire ANY coach now, let alone an NFL coach. Since we’re dreaming, I suppose it would be nice to go back in time and pull the team from the mid 90′s out of our collective ass and use those guys. Maybe we can get Salaam and Brown together on the same team! Yeah, that would rock.
How is it that someone can “pretend” to win for so many years? This blog is such a great resource – look at all the big time coaches that read it! Who do you think comes up with the “system” that allows teams like BSU to dominate thier conference? The fans? The AD? Bob Stoops? Santa Claus?
Nobody is saying Hawk is the best coach in D1A, or that this season wasn’t worse than it could have been. But he is without a doubt the best coach that CU could have gotten last year given the circumstances. And he may prove to be one of the best – if knucklehead fans give the man a chance to recruit some players and teach them. Even this year’s class was not his own. I know this is hard to swallow, but it will be at least four years before this gets good. Next year will not be pretty. The year after will be mediocre. After that, that more of the same, but maybe a decent bowl game. 5-6 years down the road – If I were a betting man, and I am, I’d say CU wins a Big XII championship.
Man, am I glad that cooler heads will prevail.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:35 pm
Fair enough D-Man, please let me clarify…. “pretender” in the sense that Hawk is completely unproven against major respected teams. So many Buffs have initially bought into the hype that this was some big time coach. Nothing could be further from the truth. CU is a major Big 12 program and this was a terrible hire. Now you’re talking 5-6 years. No respectable major conference program has the patience to wait 5-6 years for an unproven coach to prove himself. The fact that we blew our collective wad financially on this misadventure sucks. And you’re right in that there is probably nothing we can do about it now. But having this discussion about Hawk’s true qualifications is fair game for the true Black and Gold faithful considering a 10 loss season.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:37 pm
By your logic, Bob Stoops is a small time coach because he was at Kent State.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:43 pm
We’re not talking about Bob Stoops. He has proven he is a great coach at this level. We’re talking about Colorado. A one win first season for Hawk tells volumes. He has enough athletes on this team to win more than one freaking game! Clearly many of the issues are coaching issues. BTW, Do you think the Sooners would have tolerated a 10 loss season in Stoops first outing. I don’t think so. That program always has been and always will be hard core enough to make the right decisions for it’s team and admit failure when it’s time to move on. Our administrators and boosters could learn from that mentality.
November 6th, 2006 on 6:51 pm
Hello? Duffman? Bob Stoops worked with Hayden Fry at Iowa, was defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier for 3 years at Florida, and as co-defensive coordinator was one of the main architects of Kansas State’s initial rise to prominence under Bill Snyder. That is exactly the kind of experience Hawk does NOT have! Exactly the kind of experience that WE deserve!
November 6th, 2006 on 6:53 pm
CU ain’t OU. Even been to Norman? Not much there but football. Much like Lincoln in a lot of ways. Sure, Stoops is great. We don’t know if Hawkins is or not. All we know is that he’s done well in the past with the talent he was able to recruit at those levels. Why doubt him now?
Keep in mind, this was a school where parents were afraid to send their sons to play football becasue they didn’t want them to wind up in jail for rape or worse.
I’m not trying to say that 1-9 is good, or even expected. It’s not. It’s a bad season, and the coaches deserve some blame – perhaps for changing too much too fast. Or perhaps the real blame is the sorry state of the program left by the last bunch of administrators and coaches. Hard to say. But to say that Hawkins isn’t a good coach because he hasn’t had the opportunity to coach at the BCS level *under normal conditions* is a bit short sighted. This is not a normal situation, and you can’t expect the recovery to be a quick one.
November 6th, 2006 on 7:09 pm
Fire, et.al., My head hurts and I have work to do. You make some good points – perhaps they could have hired a coach with more BCS level experience. Perhaps not. In any case – we got what we got, and I’m pretty happy with the choice, personally.
Best of luck to the Buffs.
November 6th, 2006 on 8:00 pm
True enough, it is what it is. We make the best of it. Peace and Go Buffs!
November 7th, 2006 on 11:39 am
Wow, never thought I would hear “Bring Barnett back” from this bunch. That is crazy. Give Hawk some time. This year has been terrible with out a doubt, but not enough to be calling for Gare-Bare to come back and return us too… mediocre football and world class scandle.
It takes time for a coach to show his true colors, right? I mean, we though Neuheisle to be a virtual god for three seasons till we figured him out. He compiled a staggering 33-14 (.702) record and was 3-0 in postseason bowl games. After his third year things started to go down hill, and we can assume that is because he was playing with “his team” and not the remnants of the McCartney era.
Give the Hawk some time. I don’t care who they are playing, his boys at Boise State are playing some winning football. I beleive that he can replicate that success here in Boulder. And beleive me, if we don’t see improvement soon (I’m talking next year) I’ll join you in criticising him. But not until he is given a fair chance.
November 8th, 2006 on 10:54 am
I beleive that he can replicate that success here in Boulder. And beleive me, if we don’t see improvement soon (I’m talking next year) I’ll join you in criticising him. But not until he is given a fair chance.
Steve, I agree with what you’re saying overall, but we shouldn’t expect a drastic turnaround next year either. It’s going to take 3 years before we see Colorado regain it’s status as a football power. To all the haters of Hawkins: The man has already complied an impressive recruiting class and it will only get better. Be patient – our time is coming.
November 9th, 2006 on 12:26 am
Who the heck has two or three years after going through the crap at CU for three or four years. Surely not the juniors and seniors or their parents. Why not send your kid to a school that has had nothing but problems since your kid arrived and a final blow of 1-10. Yes,see how you like it. At least Gary supported and helped the next level careers of the kids that were his starters & seniors. Now there is no loyalty and it does look like high school ball.
Parents can not even come into Dalward after a game and hear words of encouragement of any kind from the head coach. Win or loss. Hawk has issues, just listen to his press conferences, double talk mombojumbo. I guarantee he will not be a commentator like GB is today, if he fails here.
Hawk is not a Stoops or GB and never will be because he lacks the class and respect Stoops & GB has/had for thier players. When Stoops players are hurt Stoops respects the positions, Hawk does not. When they struggle in a game Stoop doesn’t come home and make them run for punishment the next day,that’s high school. Even when injuried Hawk wants his team to practice at 110% and he is in the Big12 with no by week. Wow! The week before the first game he beat the guys up so much they had the most injuries in the history of CU prior to an opening game. What the hell was he thinking? Obviously, he does not understand the magnatude of the Big12.
All I can say, if you are a recruit coming to CU beware of Hawk. The words he speaks do not align themselves with his actions. You are a day labor guy with Hawk, not a career man. If you do not believe me read evey article and press release on the CUBuffs website and see where he stands now or better yet survey the players off-line.
Even our golden child Mason has struggled this year under Hawk….Hummmmm Fortuately, for him he is a senior with three great previous years.
Anyone that did not get kudo’s before Hawk will not get them now.
Players keep your heads up, we know somethings were your fault this season in regard to the losses. But realize that we also know, that having a coach that didn’t respect you for your past efforts also weighed heavy on your hearts. You can only take so much abuse before you crack and/or fail it is the law of nature.
For those graduating we wish you all the best of success. For those staying another year who want to play ball at the next level please look at all your opitions and good luck to you! For those who know football is over after college, we wish you all the best too.
Go Buffs!
November 9th, 2006 on 8:38 am
Since when has college football been about guiding the tiny minority of players who can make it into the NFL? The best will make it no matter where they play. It is not Hawk’s job to make sure your kid gets into the NFL. It’s his job to build a winning program – which is much bigger than any one class or player.
November 9th, 2006 on 8:46 pm
Duffman, you should be the CU media relations manager – you’ve got so much spin on your comments you would think Hawk is paying your salary? Do have have anything critical to say about Hawk, or are you satisfied with 1-10 records as long as our players are nominated for humanitarian of the year? CU Football Parent, I agree with you – Hawk is a spin master along the likes of Shepherd Smith, and as I said earlier, could convince a majority of CU fans (like Duffman) that a pile of dung on a plate is actually filet mignon! Dig in! Can we please get real? Team is horrible, and Dave Logan could outcoach our beloved Hawk!
November 10th, 2006 on 12:38 pm
Hawk sucks. This is the worst coaching hire in the entire NCAA, at least in the past couple of years. I agree completely with Fire Hawk Now. He’s a small time coach with no major league experience who has now mired CU into mediocrity for the next several years. Admittedly I hate CU, one part of me loves that your program is down and out for the count because your evil fan base deserves it, but mostly I’m sad for the Big XII.
November 10th, 2006 on 12:56 pm
Let’s Go Cyclones! Let’s Go Cyclones! ISU is gonna be hungry to win one for outgoing McCarney and the hapless Buffs are just the right pushover to satisy that urge!
November 12th, 2006 on 7:47 am
Yes- I think Hawk has performed poorly this season. Even the current crop of players with all the chaos should have been able to pull out a 5 win season at worst. He should have won more games. I just think the expectations people are putting on him in the first year are out of line with reality. I’ll say it again – it will take 3-5 years before you see a team you can fairly pass judgement upon.
June 18th, 2007 on 5:06 am
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