http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/...lely-up-to-athletic-director-mike-bohn/13962/
BOULDER – Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano has an idea of the kind of coach he’d like the university to hire next, but will step aside and leave the details of conducting a search to athletic director Mike Bohn.
It doesn’t mean DiStefano won’t be one of a few CU officials Bohn needs to sign off on the new coach, just that he’ll be as little a part of the process as possible. DiStefano, however, did say he’d like to see a coach with big school experience. Dan Hawkins, who was fired on Tuesday, came from Boise State, which plays its games in the Western Athletic Conference.
Speaking on a teleconference with local media, DiStefano said he’d like to see “a coach who is either successful now as a head coach or has recent coaching experience either with someone from the Pac 12 or the Big 12. Somebody in a conference similar to, if not equal to, the conference that we’re joining.”
Colorado drew some criticism with the way it conducted its last coach search, which featured the use of consultant Chuck Neinas. DiStefano said he wasn’t sure if the Buffs athletic department would go that route again, and would let Bohn make that decision.
“I’m going to leave that up to Mike,” DiStefano said. “We’ve had a brief conversation. The difference between this time around with Dan Hawkins and prior with Gary Barnett is that we started very late in the season looking for a coach. We now have a bit more time on our hands to do a better job of due diligence.”
Meanwhile, Bohn said he’s already gotten some interest in the position from outside of the CU family. Still, former CU coach Bill McCartney and current interim coach Brian Cabral have both also thrown their hats into the ring.
“We’ve had a lot of interest already and a lot of intrigue,” Bohn said. “But right now we’re focused on doing everything we can to ensure that we have all of our issues resolved with coach Hawkins first.”
Bohn said there is no timetable for having a new coach in place.
The move to the Pac 12 should work in Colorado’s favor because facilities and salaries are similar to what CU has, DiStefano said.
“I think going to the Pac 12 is actually going to help us,” DiStefano said. “The limited financial resources we have, we’re more similar to the teams in the Pac 12 than in the Big 12. I think we’ll fare well in the Pac 12, but we’ll probably have to look at some upgrades in facilities. And I don’t know what those are and I’ll certainly leave those up to Mike to work with, but I think that will be a priority for a new coach coming in.”