BOULDER, Colo.—Dan Hawkins, the fired coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, will make one last trip to Folsom Field on Saturday to accompany his son, quarterback Cody Hawkins, onto the field for senior day ceremonies before the kickoff against Kansas State.
While many figured the moment would be awkward, Cody’s looking forward to it.
“I think it will be cool,” he said on the day his father was fired. “Just like senior night for everybody else. We’re trying to figure out what costume my dad should wear. I know my mom’s going to make him be there. I think Chewbacca was an option, maybe Inspector Gadget. We’ll try and figure that out. He’s going to be there.”
Dan Hawkins watched last week’s game from the balcony outside his office in the Dal Ward Center high above the north end zone along with other family members, and his son gave him a thumbs-up every time the Buffs scored a touchdown in their 34-14 win over Iowa State in interim coach Brian Cabral’s debut.
Dan Hawkins, who went 19-39 in five seasons at Colorado, never living up to the hype of the 53-11 mark he brought to Boulder from Boise State in 2006, greeted some of his former players after that game and texted others, including senior wide receiver Scotty McKnight, the school’s all-time leader in receptions.
Cody Hawkins, who reassumed the role of starting quarterback after Tyler Hansen suffered a ruptured spleen midway through the season, is closing in on the school’s all-time marks for passing yards and completions.
Cody Hawkins ranks first in school history in attempts (1,161), touchdowns (55) and interceptions (39) and his 7,044 yards passing are 331 yards shy of Joel Klatt’s school record. He’s also 23 completions shy of Klatt’s mark of 666.
Colorado’s epic collapse at Kansas, in which the Buffs blew a 45-17 lead in the final 11 minutes, was fueled in part by Dan Hawkins’ calling for more deep passes when running out the clock was in order. That led to rampant speculation he was trying to pad his son’s stats so Cody could break the school passing record.
Nonsense, they both insisted. Either way, Hawkins was fired 72 hours after that 52-45 loss.
The school established a seven-member search committee to find a new coach, but none of them have a football background. The group will give athletic director Mike Bohn at least one recommendation soon.
Already contacted by the university is former coach Scott McCartney, who led the Buffs to the 1990 national title but who hasn’t coached since 1994 and will be 71 next fall.
Cabral has said he’d like to get a shot at the full-time job but the 21-year assistant admittedly knows “nothing about offense,” as he stated in his post-game news conference last week. And he insists he won’t think about his future until Nov. 27, the day after the season finale against Nebraska.
Cabral said he’s sought the advice of his mentor, McCartney, and another former Buffs coach, Gary Barnett, in taking over the program for the final three games.
Amid all the drama, the Buffaloes (4-6, 1-5 Big 12) still have an outside shot at a bowl game, but they’ll have to beat the Wildcats (6-4, 3-4) and then the Cornhuskers (9-1, 5-1) in their Big 12 send-off before heading West to the Pac-12.
The Wildcats are a physical team that likes to run and the Buffs are a hard-hitting bunch that defends the run well. Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein has two straight 100-yard rushing performances and Daniel Thomas has run for 1,168 yards this season. The Buffs, despite losing linebacker Jon Major, are second in the Big 12 in rush defense.
The Buffs figure they should have had bowl eligibility wrapped up by now if not for letdowns at Kansas and at home against Baylor and Texas Tech.
“It’s definitely been a frustrating season, but it’s not over,” Buffs star cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “We still have a chance to go do what we want to do, but it’s a little bit frustrating not getting the wins. Knowing that you’re better than other teams, what can you say?”
The odds may be against the Buffs reaching bowl eligibility for the first time since 2007, but Smith said they’re playing with a devil-may-care attitude and that could help.
“Everybody vowed to play as hard as they can for 60 minutes for the last three games. That’s our focus right now,” he said.
