JimmyBuff
Well-Known Member
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Woody actually is making sense and right for a change. Hard to believe.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15264539
Hey, Woody! I always love your column and seeing you on "Around the Horn." You write pretty smart to act so goofy on TV. I liked your answers on athletes you have been wrong on. So what happened with Dan Hawkins at CU? I thought he was the perfect hire for the Buffs based on what he did at Boise State, but he has been awful. Is he a bad coach, a bad recruiter, or what?
— Grace, Denver
Paige: Grace, women who have been in my life, like my mom, would tell you I act so goofy in person, too.
Dan Hawkins was hired by CU while I was away in New York acting goofy on TV, so I didn't really take a side at the time, and wasn't close enough to know. From a distance, I thought he had done an excellent job at Boise State.
Having seen him up close, now, for years, I'd tend to say he's an "or what." I think that as a father, he did the right thing to bring his son to Boulder. I think as a coach, he did a terrible thing for himself, his son and the program. That's for starters.
Father-son quarterback situations in college football rarely happen, and when they do, rarely work. Cody should have gone where his father wasn't the coach. Cody is not a high-quality Big 12 (or whatever conference CU is in today) quarterback.
He's a brilliant young quarterback, but he's too short, too slow, and he doesn't have a great arm. I know his presence kept high school quarterbacks from coming to CU. Would you have if you knew the coach's son was going to be there for years?
Secondly, I think Hawkins was able to recruit better at Boise State (although some would claim his assistants were the real good recruiters) because the academic standards really aren't as tough as at CU, and he was able to recruit that area of the country. and got a lot of overachievers (which he hasn't done at CU.)
It has often been said that CU got the wrong coach from Boise State. They've accomplished more with his former assistant, and they certainly have a better offense and uniqueness we don't see in Boulder.
Under Hawkins, Colorado hasn't been strong recruiting in Texas, Florida or California, or, for that matter, in Colorado. And the school, under many circumstances, didn't allow borderline athletes to be admitted.
I've been told that Darrell Scott was permitted to be enrolled, but couldn't, or didn't want to, handle the academic load.
I'm not in love with Hawkins as a game-day coach. He was overwhelmed with going for it on fourth down (even in his own territory) when it made no sense, even to me (and I always want coaches to go for it on fourth down).
The game plans have been horrendous, for the most part. The Buffs, as you know, almost never win on the road in the Big 12. They've pulled off a couple of major upsets, but they've lost to equal and inferior teams too often.
His rah-rah didn't work up there, and some of the statements Hawkins has made were ludicrous, promising 10 victories and chewing out parents, the players and, finally the media (for not having children).
He just never has gotten it. His staff, with a few major exceptions, wasn't that special. Now he says there are so close, whatever that means. He is so close to being gone.
The alumni (with money) are very restless, and ticket sales are down. CU wants everybody to get behind the program, but it's hard for a lot of people in Colorado to do so when he's talking about the scorched-earth program he took over (which had won the Big 12 North each of the two seasons before he got there) and blaming everybody but himself.
He kept his job because the school didn't want to pay him off. I think he got in over his head when he came here. He had better produce this year. Or what? Or he'll be out of here.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15264539