WANTED: Head football coach to take Colorado into the new Pac-12.
Will have 16 returning starters, including quarterback and star running back.
Head coaching experience at major college preferable. Pay up to $2 million a year.
Excellent university. Beautiful setting. Added benefits if you can snowboard.
When Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn sits down with prospective coaches, they’ll all want to read behind the want ad and learn one thing.
How good of a job is Colorado?
The lists of pluses and minuses are long, and as Bohn said Friday, “Name a utopia anywhere in the country.”
Colorado’s pluses are a lot more obvious than its minuses, but according to many associated with the program, the negatives strike to the heart of football’s struggles. Bohn fired Dan Hawkins on Nov. 8 after a five-year record of 19-39, including 3-6 this year.
Below is the list of pluses and minuses with confirmations from former coach Gary Barnett, who added comments as a warning to prospective applicants.
“I just want to make it better for the next guy,” said Barnett, fired after winning the 2005 North Division title, then losing to Texas 70-3 in the Big 12 Championship.
“I don’t want the next guy to go through what I did or what Dan did,” Barnett said.
Pluses
Boulder.
It’s routinely listed among the best college towns in America. It’s prettier than Austin, Texas; has better weather than Madison, Wis.; and less traffic than Los Angeles.
Campus.
At the foot of the Flatirons, it’s arguably the prettiest campus in the country. More than $650 million of construction have built a new law school, a bio-tech building and a Center for Community, which now serves as the athletic department’s training table.
University.
Colorado is a member of the American Association of Universities, a key factor in getting accepted into the stodgy Pac-10. Colorado regularly ranks among the best public institutions by the Fiske Guide to Colleges and has produced 19 Rhodes Scholars, including offensive tackle Jim Hansen in 1992.
Climate.
At least 300 days of sunshine a year make recruiting visits a little less stressful, not to mention clean games on Saturdays.
Proximity to Denver.
The mere 30 miles provides students and coaches with an urban environment and pro sports entertainment a short drive away. Denver International Airport is also conveniently located.
Pac-12.
New membership provides access to the rich recruiting ground in California and good weather to promote a wide-open passing attack for which the Pac-10 has always been known.
Upcoming TV negotiations are expected to net each school at least $14 million a year, and a conference network also is planned.
Minuses
Revolving presidential door.
When Bruce Benson arrived in 2008, he became the eighth president of the University of Colorado system since Gordon Gee left for Ohio State in 1990. In seven years, Barnett went through five presidents, including two interim.
Former coaches say a lack of stability leads to a breakdown in communication between academics and athletics.
“It’s tremendously negative,” Barnett said. “It all starts at the top. I don’t know if there’s been a president willing to stand up and provide the resources and remove the roadblocks that are out there to allow a football program or college athletic program to become what it could become.
“I always felt it was an absolute gold mine. But you end up spending five days a week fighting your own people and one day fighting Kansas, Missouri or whatever. It wears on you.”
Added Bohn: “That’s fair. I’m not talking about the president’s support. I’m talking about the continuity. Every day, President Benson works with Chancellor (Phil) DiStefano and I, it grows. The way they support us is way underrated.”
Academic restrictions.
Colorado does not accept special admits or Prop 48s, nor does it accept physical education credits from junior colleges, severely handicapping coaches to recruit jucos.
The school also has fewer majors available than most state schools and offers none of what one coach called “player-friendly majors.”
“We should be proud of our academic rigor at the University of Colorado,” Bohn said, “and what it does for their long-term economic success.”
Bohn said Colorado is on a “level playing field” with schools such as California, but the problem isn’t getting players in.
“Our challenge is getting them through and making sure they graduate,” he said.
Academic support.
That leads to the other weakness. In Bohn’s five years as AD, the budget for academic support has grown from $250,000 a year to $800,000. Yet Hawkins had numerous players become academically ineligible, partly due to what many say is an understaffed department.
Lack of community support.
In the last 10 years, the Buffaloes have sold out only eight times, none since the Texas game two years ago. The average attendance the last three years has been between 48,000 and 50,000 in 53,613-seat Folsom Field, pretty solid for a losing team. Yet insiders and outsiders point to the array of activities in Colorado that deter from college football.
“We’re scratching at it, but it’s not going to all of a sudden come unless we win consistently and continue to get $10 million worth of economic impact with the Georgia game,” Bohn said. “They do get that: ‘Ah! That was so awesome! We’ve had our college football feel for the year. See ya’!’ “
Coaches’ contracts.
Due to state law, assistant coaches are allowed only month-to-month contracts as opposed to standard year-to-year. Only offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, who has a two-year deal, differs among assistants on campus.
Bohn said four straight losing seasons under Hawkins have hurt the ability to increase salaries. Bohn said the school will pay up to $2 million for the next head coach.
“Where did we rank when we hired Gary?” Bohn said. “I bet we were in the top 10. Where are we now? Top 45? What we’re doing is increase our head coach’s and assistants’ salaries to ensure we have the best leaders, the best recruiters and best opportunities to be successful.”
Lack of funding.
Colorado is the only school in the Big 12 that loses money with its men’s basketball program. The men’s and women’s basketball teams lose about $5 million a year, meaning the football program is in a financial hole before the first kickoff.
“You’ve got the resources to go to a bowl game but not the resources to win the Big 12 or the Pac-12,” Barnett said. “If you’re a head coach, that’s what you’re looking for. Once in three or four years, I don’t want to just go to a good bowl game. I want to compete for a national championship.”
Facilities.
Under Bohn, the football team has an indoor practice bubble, and a basketball practice facility is nearing completion. Yet the 19-year-old Dal Ward Center is a distant last among Big 12 football headquarters, and the school still seeks a permanent indoor facility. Coaches say some office furniture remains from 1990.
The facilities have cost coaches recruits, and going to the more modest Pac-12 may not help.
“They’re starting to move in that direction,” Bohn said. “You got USC doing $100 million. You got Cal doing $70 million, you got Oregon doing what they’re doing. Just because we’ve moved conferences doesn’t mean our commitment to building our facilities and enhancing the experience for our student-athletes takes a second seat. It doesn’t.”
Insiders also point to other problems such as only 517 African-American students in a student body of 29,952; the cost of living in Boulder; and the tough pro-oriented media.
In the coming weeks, Bohn will have responses to all these questions. Which prospective coach believes in those answers will determine who next attempts to strike gold in Boulder.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
