Mike Bohn was hired as CU's fifth athletic director in April 2005. He recently sat down with CUBuffs.com for a five-year review and a look ahead at CU athletics.
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Fight CU down the Field
Revenues grow thin
Fight, Fight for unity
CU sells all box seats
We'll roll up esprit d'corps
Forever conjoined twin!
Shoulder to Shoulder
We will spend, spend, spend, spend, spend
Originally Posted by Skidmark
Spend what? No dough to spend......
and who can argue with that?!
In a way I feel bad for Bohn. He clearly rolled snake eyes in hiring Hawk. I thought Hawk was a good hire at the beginning, and I held out hope as long as I could, but the guy is a disaster. IMO, MB knew getting rid of Hawk was the right move, but was overruled. Now he gets the heat for playing the lap dog. I think he is really trying, but the FB hire, and it's subsequent lack of positive results, may kill any momentum MB developed so far.
It's pretty obvious, recruits, fans and supporters are rapidly losing interest. It all starts and ends with the FB team. The end of last season was the tipping point, everyone knew what had to be done...it wasn't. The fans, supporters and recruits took that as a lack of commitment to win, and acted accordingly. No amount of talk will undo the actions taken...or in this case, not taken. It's a sad state of affairs.
Now MB has to hope and pray the FB staff can somehow figure it out. Good luck with that. MB said CU is not a win at all costs outfit, and I wouldn't want them to be, but as the FB team goes, the AD goes. It appears the price of winning at CU is somewhere south of $3MM, which compared to everyone CU is competeing against, is little league.
The best thing Bohn can do to show a commitment to winning at football is get the football facilities improvements he's talking about. If he could announce that he'd found the change for practice lights and new video scoreboards, that would send a clear message. With Hawkins, there's not much he can do other than wait for it to play out. If we have a good season, Hawk stays. If he has a mediocre or losing season, he goes.
It's tough to watch the shift from selling a hot property to groveling with an emotional plea based on one's ties to the university and it's rich history.
I have a pretty bitter taste in my mouth over last season. Bohn's Unity theme brings back those memories.
In a situation like this, I look at Oregon and Nebraska with some envy. Bohn can't exactly coach up Hawkins the same way that Belloti or Osborne can with their HC's.
Bohn did a masterful job creating buzz around the program in years 2-4, despite the product on the field. He depended on Hawkins to deliver results. Instead, Bohn was all sizzle and no steak.
This time around there is no sizzle. Bohn is playing the loyalty card (win, lose, or draw) to ask fans for a mulligan.
I'd rather see a 5-point plan that describes why the football fans will have a better experience in 2010.
It is amazing how the goals and objectives have changed since Bohn took over. Barnett was fired because winning the North and going to a mid-level Bowl game was not good enough. Patton was forced out because going 500 in conference, going to the NIT was not good enough. I can certainly support raising the proverbial bar. But when Bohn's own hires seem to struggle worse than their predecessors then the goals and objectives become redefined. Bohn is pushing the idea that we cannot win if we don't cheat. I find the following comment insulting to me as a fan. I want to win but I do care how the program is run and I believe it can be done that way.
I also love the guilt trip he tries to lay on the fans.We're not going to break NCAA rules . . . we're going to do all the things that are right despite the fact that some constituents don't care about those aspects of how we run a program.
I thought we had a great atmosphere for the CSU game - highest attendance of the season but I don't remember anything good happening.And again, when have we been best in home football games? When we have a great environment and we come out with a focused effort - then some good things happen. I'm mindful of (previous wins against) Oklahoma, West Virginia, the Texas A&M and Kansas games last season.
Yes, I am tough on Mike Bohn. I no longer have a clear vision of what he envisions for CU athletics.
I have a clear vision of MB's priorities...he wants to keep collecting his paycheck, beyond that, all is up for grabs. When I hear him talk now, it is nothing but managing expectations. The infuriating part is the expeteations he created, and those of his coaches (particularly Hawk) are now being revised downward...
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