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I think there has been a fundamental change in Bohn

DBT

Club Member
Club Member
When Mike hired Hawkins, CU was going through an image crisis. Mike believed that he had to bring in the "types" of kids that could turn that around. That meant, I believe, that he wanted more emphasis on "good students" and less on "star athletes." I believe he felt like he needed a coach who could coach up, maybe, less talented kids and still win. I think the perception was that Boise St. did just that and Dan Hawkins was a guy "that could take his kids and beat you and then take your kids and beat you." That was an almost exact quote from none other than Sonny Lubik.

Well, that didn't work out so well, did it? In recent interviews, Bohn now uses the "its not about the X's and O's, its all about the Jimmies and Joes" quote. I believe Mike now realizes that to be a winning program, you need talent. And I believe, or hope, that the admin believes that as well. So I think the number one quality Mike will look at is a guy's ability to recruit.

I also believe the school, or again hope, takes the gloves off regarding partial qualifiers. I just heard on the radio that Michigan, the last two classes, has allowed 35 partial qualifiers. If CU is going to return to glory, its time to take off the gloves and I think Mike Bohn knows that. His job is riding on it.
 
I agree with you. The commitment seems to be there, and other evidence (such as the 3 long term contracts going to FB) supports the theory. In a way, the Cal blowout may be the best thing thats happened to CU football in a long time (Benson and Distephano were there and embarrassed).
 
I agree with you. The commitment seems to be there, and other evidence (such as the 3 long term contracts going to FB) supports the theory. In a way, the Cal blowout may be the best thing thats happened to CU football in a long time (Benson and Distephano were there and embarrassed).

Absolutely correct. Not only were they there, and embarrassed, but they were there with 10,000+ Buff alumni and supporters. That's a very powerful scene, I'm sure. They probably got more than one person telling them they were sick of this kind of sh*t happening at CU.
 
Yep. I think, in hindsight, that Cal blowout may end up being a blessing for CU football. It was our first game in the Pac, really. 10,000 donors, err, Buff fans were there. Mike, Bruce and Phil were there, proud as could be. Glad handing the Buff faithful. Chests out. Pumped up. Full of hope eternal. One problem. We had to play the game. :lol:
 
The recruiting emphasis is important, which is why I am hoping Bohn is gauging what type of coaching staff the candidates would bring in. There is going to be more money (much more if you believe some sources) for the assistant coaching pool, along with the two multi-year contracts, so Bohn better be asking about potential assistants during interviews because assistants are the ones doing the majority of the legwork in recruiting.

As far as the admissions issues, that has gradually changed and has been for a while. Sounds like the next coach will at least get some exceptions.
 
The recruiting emphasis is important, which is why I am hoping Bohn is gauging what type of coaching staff the candidates would bring in. There is going to be more money (much more if you believe some sources) for the assistant coaching pool, along with the two multi-year contracts, so Bohn better be asking about potential assistants during interviews because assistants are the ones doing the majority of the legwork in recruiting.

As far as the admissions issues, that has gradually changed and has been for a while. Sounds like the next coach will at least get some exceptions.

One of the huge factors in Hawk's demise was that his prime assistants did not follow him here. When Petersen got the HC job, they stayed with him. Which brings me to Les Miles. Lets say he has had enough of the pressure cooker and opts to come to Colorado for a substantial reduction in pay. The likelihood that his assistants would also opt for pay cuts and one year contracts to follow him to Boulder are slim, especially if LSU promotes from within as BSU did. So then, Miles would have to build a staff from scratch which was led to Hawkins' downfall.
 
hopefully we get a couple of kids in and they have a support staff so they stay eligable it would help on the field and it would give someone a chance to get a good education.
 
hopefully we get a couple of kids in and they have a support staff so they stay eligable it would help on the field and it would give someone a chance to get a good education.

Mac had pretty good success with partial qualifers and I think he believes, with proper support, that not only is it good for the program, it is a wonderful opportunity for some of the kids. I think that if we want to rise to the elite again, we need to allow at least 6 partial qualifers a year. Under the rules put in place under Bitsy, we could only bring in 1 and maybe 2 per year. (I may be way off on the "6" number, but that is what I think off the top of my head.) But an argument would be that Mac also had a lot of disciplinary problems back in the day and it is only tougher to keep kids in line these days.
 
Mac had pretty good success with partial qualifers and I think he believes, with proper support, that not only is it good for the program, it is a wonderful opportunity for some of the kids. I think that if we want to rise to the elite again, we need to allow at least 6 partial qualifers a year. Under the rules put in place under Bitsy, we could only bring in 1 and maybe 2 per year. (I may be way off on the "6" number, but that is what I think off the top of my head.) But an argument would be that Mac also had a lot of disciplinary problems back in the day and it is only tougher to keep kids in line these days.
This is slightly off topic, but I don't understand this whole delayed adulthood thing. College football players are not "kids", but men. Do you expect them to have the maturity of a 40-year old (like Gundy, he's a man)? No, but they are not children. If more is expected of young men they will step up.
 
When Mike hired Hawkins, CU was going through an image crisis. Mike believed that he had to bring in the "types" of kids that could turn that around. That meant, I believe, that he wanted more emphasis on "good students" and less on "star athletes." I believe he felt like he needed a coach who could coach up, maybe, less talented kids and still win. I think the perception was that Boise St. did just that and Dan Hawkins was a guy "that could take his kids and beat you and then take your kids and beat you." That was an almost exact quote from none other than Sonny Lubik.

Well, that didn't work out so well, did it? In recent interviews, Bohn now uses the "its not about the X's and O's, its all about the Jimmies and Joes" quote. I believe Mike now realizes that to be a winning program, you need talent. And I believe, or hope, that the admin believes that as well. So I think the number one quality Mike will look at is a guy's ability to recruit.

I also believe the school, or again hope, takes the gloves off regarding partial qualifiers. I just heard on the radio that Michigan, the last two classes, has allowed 35 partial qualifiers. If CU is going to return to glory, its time to take off the gloves and I think Mike Bohn knows that. His job is riding on it.

I have a hard time buying this. So you are saying the AD purposely went and got a coach who couldn't or wouldn't recruit talented kids as long as he got "good kids"? I don't think any AD in history has told a coach I want you to recruit mediocre talent. I don't think any AD has ever told a coach to bring in a kid who isn't a star athlete to play football because he has decent grades. X's and O's are very important to a team, and so is the ability to recruit. I highly doubt Bohn hired Hawkins thinking he would be a poor recruiter but would be able to coach the kids up. Makes absolutely no sense.
 
I think the best model is to be relaxed with admissions, but run a tight ship when they're here. If a player is a problem then he's gone, whoever he is. People get that message real quick. None of this messing around. Talk is cheap. Young men want to know three things: 1) who is in charge? 2) what are the rules? and 3) will they be enforced?
 
this is true of most dbt posts

Hah. I mean I understand bringing in a coach with a good positive image to run a clean program, and that's all well and good. It just seems like the post is a justification for the awful recruiting that went on here under Hawk, and a refusal to look at other factors that played into the problem (the coach, the facilities, the difficulty of attracting top recruits when the W's haven't been there).
 
Coaching changes tend to compensate for what was missing under the prior guy. For example, Patton was a great recruiter, but lacked coaching fundamentals. Enter Bzz, who was great with fundamentals, but lacked loyalty. Enter Boyle, who is a local guy and is expected to stick with CU for the long-term.
 
The academic support staff, while not as fun to talk about as assistant coaches, are critical. If we relax rules on partial qualifiers, we'd better be damned sure we can support these kids once they're here or we'll be getting hammered by the APR in a few years if these kids flame out.
 
I have a hard time buying this. So you are saying the AD purposely went and got a coach who couldn't or wouldn't recruit talented kids as long as he got "good kids"? I don't think any AD in history has told a coach I want you to recruit mediocre talent. I don't think any AD has ever told a coach to bring in a kid who isn't a star athlete to play football because he has decent grades. X's and O's are very important to a team, and so is the ability to recruit. I highly doubt Bohn hired Hawkins thinking he would be a poor recruiter but would be able to coach the kids up. Makes absolutely no sense.

I missed the part where I said Bohn thought Hawkins would be a poor recruiter. Could you please tell me where I said or even implied that? I think Bohn felt like Hawk was dynamic and, given the appeal CU has, would be a great recruiter. But I think CU made a fundemental decision to try to change what they thought the public perception was of the program.
 
This is slightly off topic, but I don't understand this whole delayed adulthood thing. College football players are not "kids", but men. Do you expect them to have the maturity of a 40-year old (like Gundy, he's a man)? No, but they are not children. If more is expected of young men they will step up.

i'm 24 and a lot of "adults" still consider me a "kid". maybe it's cuz i look really young
 
Bohn's biggest mistake was giving Hawk the extension. He said he did it for the stability of the program, but he could have given him a one or two year extension, and it would have saved us millions. Hawk had done nothing but BS his way into that extension. Damn it feels good knowing that jacka$* is gone for good!
 
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The "fundamental" change I'd like to see from Bohn is to run a real HC search. Given what I've seen or been led to believe from his past hires, he appears to micro focus on a single candidate almost immediately and never really stray from there. But I do agree that he seems to be saying the right types of things about needing to really focus on getting top-tier athletes in here.
 
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