Boulder – Colorado’s athletic department has been looking for ways to mend relations with the community. The return of Charles Johnson figures to help give it a fighting chance.
The former CU quarterback, who helped lead the 1990 team to a national title, is returning to the athletic department as a full-time staff member. His specific role will be outlined when his hiring is announced next week.
“I’m excited,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I feel like it’s a personal homecoming for me. It’s where I belong. I just hope I can bring some value to the department and assist in whatever way I can to make this athletic department the premier department in the nation.”
Johnson has been one of the athletic department’s staunchest supporters and harshest critics the past two years, when it was battered with criticism during investigations of the football program. He sees the potential in what CU’s athletic department can accomplish and has been impressed by new athletic director Mike Bohn’s energetic start.
“He’s set the absolute right tone for CU, given where we’ve been the last couple of years,” Johnson said. “His energy and his consistent messaging is coming through loud and clear.”
Johnson’s biggest presence is expected to be felt through his link to the African-American community. Last year, CU football coach Gary Barnett and others in administration criticized the university’s poor relations with the black community.
“We’ve got work to do,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anyone would say anything different. A lot of stuff has to happen over the next 12 to 18 months to create a (better) environment, a place to at least share with the world that CU is not this place that you might read a story about or hear about different incidents.”
Johnson is quick to point out he wants to give back to a university that took a chance on him.
“It was a place that I think went a long way in saving my baby brother’s life as an African-American kid moving from Detroit to Colorado back when he was 16 years old,” Johnson said. “The community embraced him graciously and helped that young man become an upstanding citizen in our community. So I see both sides.”
Bohn, asked about Johnson’s hiring, said final details were being wrapped up and he preferred not to comment until it became official next week.
Johnson has worked in the Denver media in recent years, on a radio show for 950 AM The Fan and now on KOA 850 AM’s late-afternoon program with Dave Logan, as well as doing television segments on Fox Sports Net.
He said he no longer will host talk shows but will continue to be the analyst on CU basketball radio broadcasts.
“Coach (Bill McCartney) used to tell us when we were playing to dare to be great,” Johnson said. “I didn’t quite understand what that meant at the time. But when I think about CU’s athletic department, that phrase comes to mind: Dare to be great.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
