BOULDER — Colorado’s search for a new football coach won’t include Air Force’s Troy Calhoun. Sources close to the search said Tuesday that Calhoun, long believed to be at or near the top of CU’s wish list, could not be enticed to leave the Academy and CU is moving on to other candidates.
Calhoun has led Air Force to three consecutive bowl games.
CU interviewed interim head coach Brian Cabral on Monday. Cabral said Tuesday he was given a “fair and ample opportunity” to present his vision for the football program as a replacement for Dan Hawkins.
“I feel I was heard,” Cabral said. “I am appreciative of that.”
Cabral said he was not given a timetable for the hiring process. Nor was he told of other candidates for the job.
“Hopefully there will be a decision soon,” Cabral said. “We need to move quickly, especially for the recruiting process. These (next) two weeks are critical. We’ve got to get (recruits) on campus. We can’t wait until January. It’s been my experience that when you hire a new head coach there is a lot of excitement in recruiting.”
Cabral said that if he is not named CU’s head coach he said he may pursue other college head-coaching jobs. Cabral said he has not been contacted by another school.
“I’d like to think this will create opportunities to be a head coach,” he said. “That’s been my goal. When I was sitting across with coach (Bill) McCartney, I envisioned sitting in his seat.”
Cabral was 2-1 as CU’s interim head coach, with victories over Kansas State and Iowa State.
Cabral said the search committee asked him about what his coaching staff would look like and he replied that it would include “a lot of Buffs, people connected with the University of Colorado.”
Cabral said he would like to remain on the CU staff if somebody else is named head coach and he didn’t land a head coaching job elsewhere.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
