Boulder – Undefeated always shines like gold. But do only fools believe the Buffaloes are as good as their 2-0 record? For an honest appraisal of how far CU football has fallen in national prominence, you must follow the money.
The smart money says Colorado is 14 points worse than the Miami Hurricanes, America’s No. 1-ranked football program of the past 20 years.
The betting line is cold, unsentimental and to the point. So what’s the point? Right now, when playing an elite team, the Buffs are regarded as underdogs by two touchdowns.
“I would consider that a significant underdog,” Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn told me Tuesday.
In six years as coach at Colorado, Gary Barnett has won rings that shine like gold. But, for an unvarnished assessment of his job security with the Buffaloes, you must follow the money.
There is a $2 million payment due Barnett if he completes his current contract, which expires after next season. Can a cash- strapped athletic department afford a big bonus for a CU coach whose average record is 7-5?
In a rich football history, every coach from Fred Folsom to Bill McCartney who worked the Colorado sideline for at least six seasons owns a higher winning percentage than Barnett.
What Barnett has done is transform CU from a legitimate national power to an overachieving underdog. Against teams ranked in the top 10, his record with the Buffaloes is 2-13.
No wonder Colorado is considered 14 points worse than Miami, whose current No. 12 ranking is based as much on reputation as achievement.
“We have to ask ourselves what the athletic department can do to reduce that difference from 14 points to five to three to two to a half-point to even,” Bohn said.
Raising ‘Cane, Miami has long exploited the same football-gone-wild image that caused so many stiff CU lips to be bitten with consternation, when the Colorado governor got in a huff about the Buffs’ behavior. Miami vice is not considered nice in Boulder.
Upsetting Miami would make for the happiest TV face time the Buffaloes have seen since Colorado won the Big 12 Conference title in 2001. Barnett, however, has wisely downplayed what storming South Beach and conquering the Canes would mean to him personally, saying, “This is one of those games that you just have to tell the guys what time the bus leaves.”
Since taking the job as CU’s athletic director in April, Bohn has found much to admire in Barnett, from the football program’s laudable graduation rate to good citizenship that would do a pack of Cub Scouts proud.
But, for the life of me, I cannot figure how the Buffs are going to finance a $2 million bonus to Barnett, even if Bohn rents out the Coors Events Center for everything from bar mitzvahs to roller-skating parties, and sells all the ski team’s gear at a swap meet, to boot.
So I asked Bohn two direct questions regarding Barnett.
Is beating Miami a must-win for a coach seeking a lucrative contract extension?
Would upsetting the Hurricanes prove Barnett has earned a new deal?
“None of the above,” was Bohn’s revealing response.
Want to know why a job evaluation must wait? Despite a tradition of success, college football has been a tough sell in Boulder for decades. Bohn is working overtime to find a buyer for every ticket to CU’s homecoming for only the third time in 33 years.
Coaches at Nebraska and Texas labor under far less economic pressure to win a conference championship than Barnett endures.
Apathy is not Barnett’s fault. But it’s the burden of a coach with a record of memorable September blowout losses that do nothing to fill the home stadium in October.
The bottom line? Dollars and sense might be more critical to Barnett’s future at CU than touchdowns and extra points.
Win or lose against Miami, the job security of Barnett will be based as much on a budget sheet as the national rankings.
There are two million reasons why.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
