BlackNGold
Club Member
Before this season I think there were basically 3 schools of thought among Buff fans in regards to Coach Hawkins. The fans that loved him and had no doubts about him being successful, the fans that love the Buffs and love the coach by extension, and fans who were starting to have concerns about Hawkins coaching ability. I would say that 85% of the fans fell into the first two groups.
Now with the shockingly poor start to the season for the Buffs the fan sentiment has probably had one of the all-time biggest shifts. I would say that now 70% of the fans fall in the last group and only a handful are in the first group.
Even if by some miracle Hawkins can win 6 games this season there is not likely to be a massive shift back. Hawkins has lost a lot of credibility with the fans and it is not going to be restored easily.
Furthermore, the press has now turned on him. They find him to be dismissive of them and they don't like that. The old "you not a coach so you don't understand" act does not play well with either fans or the press.
So I believe the coach will remain embattled for the near future which results in damage to recruiting and also to fund raising and ticket sales.
Even if Hawkins is not replaced, the CU FB program could be starting a downward spiral. Hawkins is going to have to work some big time Zen Magic to fix this one.
Now with the shockingly poor start to the season for the Buffs the fan sentiment has probably had one of the all-time biggest shifts. I would say that now 70% of the fans fall in the last group and only a handful are in the first group.
Even if by some miracle Hawkins can win 6 games this season there is not likely to be a massive shift back. Hawkins has lost a lot of credibility with the fans and it is not going to be restored easily.
Furthermore, the press has now turned on him. They find him to be dismissive of them and they don't like that. The old "you not a coach so you don't understand" act does not play well with either fans or the press.
So I believe the coach will remain embattled for the near future which results in damage to recruiting and also to fund raising and ticket sales.
Even if Hawkins is not replaced, the CU FB program could be starting a downward spiral. Hawkins is going to have to work some big time Zen Magic to fix this one.