And my answer is….
I do not know. And neither does Mike Bohn and he’s making the decision.
Bohn HAD to fire Hawkins after the Memorial Meltdown (trademarked Dr.Pure) at Kansas. But I don’t think he ever seriously considered prior to the Jayhawks recovering the onside kick and putting 35 points on the board in the 4th quarter to win that game.
So what are the Golden Buffaloes to do? There have been a few names floating around out in there that could be possibilities.
Bill McCartney is not too old. KSU’s Bill Snyder looked frail and weak, Bill McC, looked none of those things. He is getting older and probably could only go a few more years, but I think he’d be up for it if he gets the spot. And he has enough football knowledge to get it done. How much coaching do you seriously think the head coach of a Division-1 football team does? He supervises, regulates and remains a strong face and foundation that can recruit and coach under him. And the legacy factor; you can’t dispute it. It will put people in the stands. So he’s probably the frontrunner.
Brian Cabral might seem like a good fit, almost too well. I think we have the ‘Bill Stewart Effect’ to deal with. He played here in the 1970’s, and he’s practically coached here after his 6 year stint in the NFL. He has way too much invested in this program to see it fall apart right in front of his face. For 34 of the last 40 years of his life have revolved around CU football, take that away from the guy and he’ll be an absolute wreck. You can’t let that happen.
Eric Bieniemy could fit, I guess. He played here and he now coaches in the NFL, with the Vikings, so he knows about the drama and painstaking hours that it takes to be a coach. But the right fit, I don’t believe so. It would be an awkward reuniting.
Would all of these guys make good coaches, sure? Would I be happy with any of the above choices, sure? But I think we should go outside and find someone new, someone that will give us a fresh start.
So who will it be? No clue.
Coach Mac is the choice. I agree that the Head Coach is a "philosophy" position and a personnel manager. Football is still a "fundamental" sport that relies on physical domination and less on finesse (Oregon's success as a finesse team doesn't happen without the horses up front). Coach Mac's philosphy and Pac-12 exposure gets great running backs/linemen/receivers to come to Boulder again. Plus, and this is an important consideration, Mac will work for a lot less than a "big supposedly proven name". And, more importantly, Mac is proven.
ReplyDeleteDarian Hagan could be offensive coordinator (CU connection and actually successfully played-the-position experience). Or, maybe Dave Logan comes in as offensive coordinator to mentor Hagan for a few years (hard to compete with all of the other things that he gets to do - who would describe the Broncos "success" during the next few years? and what would FirstBank do? and, how would we survive the "ride home with KOA" without Logan? Plus, let's see if kids are going to Mullen for Mullen or Logan (refer to Chatfield and A-West))
Bienemy could be running backs coach (but, I don't think he leaves the NFL to do that).
You are correct that it isn't fair to Cabral to let him risk failing as head coach (even though that should be his call to assume the risk) - but, I see Cabral's higher value being an enthusiastic defensive coordinator, recruiter, and heart/soul of the program (and mentor to future defensive coordinator - maybe Big Al as defensive line coach).
Picture Coach Mac, Hagan, Cabral, Logan, and Williams going to a recruit's house to build CU football. Like you said - who else comes to mind that can have that potential success??