We all remember how it ended and how things got burnt to the ground those last couple years.
But as I look back, I think that it was 1 big mistake and 1 big stroke of bad luck that turned things.
At Willamette, a D2 program, he built them from mediocre to having a record of 40-11-1 over 5 years.
Moved to Boise State where he was a key assistant in building the program for 3 seasons before taking over as HC and going 53-11 over 5 years.
After CU, his return to college at UC-Davis (FCS level) has seen him take a struggling program and go 28-18 so far (5-0 this year so far).
He can coach.
I definitely question how well his act plays with more elite athletes on a bigger stage, given his time at CU followed by the way they ran him out of the CFL during his 1 season.
However, I think it was close to working at CU.
Offensive staff was very strong with Jeff Grimes, Mark Helfrich and Eric Kiesau. So I think the "no Petersen" narrative is severely overblown.
2006 transition recruiting class was #47 (previous year was #40), so not all that good. Also, he chose to recruit his son to play QB - The Big Mistake.
But the Hawkins model, which worked so well at Boise State, was to host visits and bring in recruits after the season during bowl practices. Finding underrecruited guys who blew up as seniors or more heralded guys who weren't firm in their commitments in order to complete most of a class. (More on this later.)
2006 season: 2-10 record, but with a signature win over a Top 5 Oklahoma team. (Edit- OU was the following season)
2007 recruiting: #27 class (leveraging his previous success)
2007 season: 6-7 with a close bowl loss to Alabama.
2008 recruiting: #15 recruiting class (recruiting strategy was working). Glaring issue, in retrospect, is we couldn't attract a QB recruit - a problem that never was overcome as the coach's son was starting as a freshman and was obviously not going to be leaving early for the NFL.
2008 season: 5-6 heading into the Nub game. 4 of 6 losses to ranked teams + losses at Florida State and aTm. Plus a win over a ranked West Virginia. Not quite a good team, but not a bad team that had beaten the teams it should have. Game was lost in the final 2 minutes when the Nubs hit a ridiculous 57 yard FG - The Big Stroke of Bad Luck.
2009 recruiting: #49. No bowl practices, no momentum. The Nub loss derailed the strategy his recruiting was built upon.
And the death spiral began. He'd lost his mojo. Key assistants had been leaving with downgrade replacements. First Grimes to Auburn. Then Helfrich took the Oregon OC job at the end of April leaving us with no OC or QB Coach during spring ball. Players also decided to abandon ship.
2009 season: 3-9
2010 recruiting: #57
2010 season: 3-6 (fired Midseason)
Looking back, I think it was real close to Hawkins having enough success here to jump for a higher paying job and leave us with a winning program and a very talented roster... if not for 1 Big Mistake and 1 Stroke of Bad Luck.
P.S. For perspective on those recruiting ranks and relevant to other threads:
2011: #64
2012: #39
2013: #68
2014: #74
2015: #69
2016: #69
2017: #35
2018: #53
2019: #44
2020: #36
2021: #64
What these numbers convince me of is that if the coaches focus on recruiting even without success (EB, Tucker) or have a little momentum (MM after bowl season), CU is fully capable of bringing in Top 40 recruiting classes. So anything below that is unacceptable to me and should be to everyone. What Hawkins showed is that success + emphasis of staff makes us a Top 30 recruiting program. With momentum (probably after some sustained success at this stage), CU is capable of the occasional Top 20 class.
But as I look back, I think that it was 1 big mistake and 1 big stroke of bad luck that turned things.
At Willamette, a D2 program, he built them from mediocre to having a record of 40-11-1 over 5 years.
Moved to Boise State where he was a key assistant in building the program for 3 seasons before taking over as HC and going 53-11 over 5 years.
After CU, his return to college at UC-Davis (FCS level) has seen him take a struggling program and go 28-18 so far (5-0 this year so far).
He can coach.
I definitely question how well his act plays with more elite athletes on a bigger stage, given his time at CU followed by the way they ran him out of the CFL during his 1 season.
However, I think it was close to working at CU.
Offensive staff was very strong with Jeff Grimes, Mark Helfrich and Eric Kiesau. So I think the "no Petersen" narrative is severely overblown.
2006 transition recruiting class was #47 (previous year was #40), so not all that good. Also, he chose to recruit his son to play QB - The Big Mistake.
But the Hawkins model, which worked so well at Boise State, was to host visits and bring in recruits after the season during bowl practices. Finding underrecruited guys who blew up as seniors or more heralded guys who weren't firm in their commitments in order to complete most of a class. (More on this later.)
2006 season: 2-10 record, but with a signature win over a Top 5 Oklahoma team. (Edit- OU was the following season)
2007 recruiting: #27 class (leveraging his previous success)
2007 season: 6-7 with a close bowl loss to Alabama.
2008 recruiting: #15 recruiting class (recruiting strategy was working). Glaring issue, in retrospect, is we couldn't attract a QB recruit - a problem that never was overcome as the coach's son was starting as a freshman and was obviously not going to be leaving early for the NFL.
2008 season: 5-6 heading into the Nub game. 4 of 6 losses to ranked teams + losses at Florida State and aTm. Plus a win over a ranked West Virginia. Not quite a good team, but not a bad team that had beaten the teams it should have. Game was lost in the final 2 minutes when the Nubs hit a ridiculous 57 yard FG - The Big Stroke of Bad Luck.
2009 recruiting: #49. No bowl practices, no momentum. The Nub loss derailed the strategy his recruiting was built upon.
And the death spiral began. He'd lost his mojo. Key assistants had been leaving with downgrade replacements. First Grimes to Auburn. Then Helfrich took the Oregon OC job at the end of April leaving us with no OC or QB Coach during spring ball. Players also decided to abandon ship.
2009 season: 3-9
2010 recruiting: #57
2010 season: 3-6 (fired Midseason)
Looking back, I think it was real close to Hawkins having enough success here to jump for a higher paying job and leave us with a winning program and a very talented roster... if not for 1 Big Mistake and 1 Stroke of Bad Luck.
P.S. For perspective on those recruiting ranks and relevant to other threads:
2011: #64
2012: #39
2013: #68
2014: #74
2015: #69
2016: #69
2017: #35
2018: #53
2019: #44
2020: #36
2021: #64
What these numbers convince me of is that if the coaches focus on recruiting even without success (EB, Tucker) or have a little momentum (MM after bowl season), CU is fully capable of bringing in Top 40 recruiting classes. So anything below that is unacceptable to me and should be to everyone. What Hawkins showed is that success + emphasis of staff makes us a Top 30 recruiting program. With momentum (probably after some sustained success at this stage), CU is capable of the occasional Top 20 class.
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