BOULDER — Colorado’s Dan Hawkins could not imagine himself or others coaching in 500 college football games, a milestone that will be reached Saturday by Florida State’s venerable Bobby Bowden when CU plays against the Seminoles in Jacksonville, Fla.
“It’s an amazing feat,” Hawkins said Tuesday during his weekly media luncheon. “I’m one of those guys who says, ‘Never say never,’ but that has become very hard to do.
“There is so much attention and scrutiny on programs now. Eventually people get tired of your offense, they get tired of your recruiting, you get tired of press conferences. ‘We want a new face. We want new jokes.’ That’s just the nature of our society.”
Bowden is surpassed only by Amos Alonzo Stagg (548) and Joe Paterno (504). Saturday will mark college game No. 145 for Hawkins as a head coach.
“I think if you added up every basketball, baseball, rec league . . . every game I’ve ever been in, that’s probably about 300,” Hawkins said with a grin.
Early games next season?
Colorado could play two nationally televised nonconference games on weekdays in 2009, CU athletic director Mike Bohn said Tuesday.
Bohn declined to say which games may be played on Thursday night or Friday night. Nonconference opponents next year are Colorado State (in Boulder), Miami (Ohio) at Oxford, Wyoming (Boulder) and West Virginia (Morgantown). ESPN and ESPN2 televise weekday games.
Celestine departure.
Although the depth at wide receiver has been thinned with the departure of sophomore Kendrick Celestine this week, CU wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau said burning the redshirt of freshman Chance Blackmon is not a consideration — at least not at this point.
“We can use some other people,” Kiesau said. “(But) Chance is going to travel. He’s going to prepare. If something tragic happens, he might be forced into action.”
Celestine, from Mamou, La., caught 11 passes for 151 yards in 2007 as a true freshman and had five receptions for 46 yards this season. He quit the team to attend to a family matter in Louisiana and is not expected to return, Kiesau said.
Footnote.
Starting strong safety D.J. Dykes has been cleared to play against Florida State. Dykes, a senior, missed the West Virginia game because of a virus that sapped his strength.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
