I trust Bohn. He's a guy who meets and sometimes exceeds expectations.
The good: He's done a masterful job reshaping CU's image within the Boulder community and beyond. From his establishment of the Pearl Street pep rally to his focus on getting squeaky clean coaches, to his focus on compliance with the NCAA, to his tireless efforts to get the CU program TV coverage, Mike Bohn has helped bury the stench of the pseudo scandal of yesteryear. He has sunk money into the locker room and the practice bubble to help keep up with the conference. He has brought the B12 track championship to CU and has been supportive of the CU olympians. His effort to sell the club seats, get people into the stadium in their seats, and on time, have been nice changes for the better. The signage and the upkeep of Folsom (minus a kick-butt video board) is where it needs to be.
The bad: Bohn's message is out of balance with the product on the hardwood and on the gridiron. Bohn set the table for success, which still hasn't come. If football and basketball are the goose that lays the golden egg, it's a shame that on his watch, neither program has turned the corner into respectibility, let alone domination. However, the fans were ready for home-runs and title-runs already. The perception that Bohn is a salesman who offers "more sizzle than steak" is my biggest critism. Sure the guy can sell iceboxes to the eskamos. But the eskamos don't wan't iceboxes. They want wins. Bohn has his work cut out for him to right the listing ship under Hawkins, and pull CU into a top tier money school like so many of CU's B12 peers. In a nutshell, atleast CU is not Iowa State or Kansas State.
I'm not sure what to think about CU basketball. The CEC and the efforts to bring big time NCAA basketball to Boulder is a hurculean effort. Seems like a long-shot to get CU basketball to a point where it's throwing off a big cash-flow. Bohn might know what he's doing. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But the thought crosses my mind that he is throwing good dollars down a rat hole.
CU is down to a bare minimum of sports, many of them low-expense sports that have a minimum requirement of facilities and equipment expense, like tennis and golf and cross country and soccer and volleyball and skiing. While CU is strong in running, Boulder used to be a mecca. The U of Oregon has eclipsed CU as the place for distance runners, and Eugene is now the center of the running universe. The south schools still dominate in the sprints. Part of that is Boulder, which doesn't have Phil Knight and Nike. But part of that is getting to a point where Oklahoma State is winning the B12 in men's Cross Country, and that the women's team falls off pretty far talent-wise after Jenny Barrenger.
CU is unfortunately far, far away from fielding swimming and gymnastics and ice hockey and baseball. If Bohn were to be able to address some of those trends in a positive way, I'd be very, very impressed.
I don't appriciate the little snafus like his last minute parking pass changes, or how difficult it is to get past the ticket takers at the gate and into the stadium on game day, I do see him making adjustments to get the little things right. When attendence for Wyoming was in question, he pulled off the 4 for $40 and was able to pack the place. This focus on the fan is good, and it's an area where he ought to to continue to work. How about beer in Folsom again?
I'd like to see more and better CU merchandise made available through agressive license agreements. The gray sweatshirts and yellow t-shirts are uninspired and relatively unchanged over the years. Seems like CU could bring in more cash if they had better and more variety in the clothing that fans might be able to purchase. How about a new camp-shirt/hawaiian shirt design EVERY YEAR! How about some cool buffalo patterns on dress shirts? How about getting Billabong or Ouray or other manufactures to fill in clothing niches that Nike isn't addressing?
I'm hacked off about the 2020 CSU contract extension at Invesco, his decision to scrap a home-home series with LSU for a 2 and away with Fresno, and with how the Toledo Friday Night deal went down. His pursuit of network dollars and general revenue backfire when the product on the field is not meeting fan expectations.
Hawkins is his coach. Delegating the football product to Hawkins has been his style, and a pretty cool thing for a boss to do. But at the end of the day, the football program is Bohn's baby.
Net grade: Pass. Retain him. Do what it takes to get some wins.
