It has been 17 years since CU has had two winning seasons in a row. It has been 20 years since they came off to back to back years of finishing the season ranked. CU football has spent the better part of the last two decades being a laughing stock instead of a reason to bring excitement as a Colorado Football Fan. Colorado Football went to a bowl game 17 of 21 years spanning from 1985 to 2005 while they are VERY likely to miss a bowl for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons. What happened? How can it be fixed?
Seventeen years ago, Gary Barnett was fired after 5 bowl games in 7 years, a Top 10 ranking in 2001 (and as high as #3 in the BCS prior to bowl season) and producing NFL talent regularly with 21 players drafted during his 7 year tenure. To give a comparison, it took nearly 14 years to reach the same amount of players drafted from the classes produced by Dan Hawkins, Jon Embree and Mike MacIntyre combined. Coaching, QB play and talent are the 3 most important aspects of college football. Without talent, a great coach can only do so much and without the right QB, a team can only go so far and that team is only as good as it’s biggest deficiency in talent. The one year CU finished ranked in the Top 25 and making a legitimate bowl game was in the 2016 football season. That team had a secondary where 4 players would be drafted from the secondary, two defensive lineman would see NFL contracts and they had a senior laden team with a QB that had a ton of heart and did anything to win for his team.
CU has not had a better QB since Sefo Liufau, despite Steven Montez being more talented and putting up better passing stats, he was selfish and lacked the heart to run for a first down. I believe his sliding feet first, missing a first down instead of diving is one of the most lasting memories of his time. Despite all that, CU has truly lacked a great QB since Kordell Stewart. They had a really good QB in Joel Klatt and a leader like Sefo in Bobby Pesavento that made the Barnett era successful. Still, they all lacked NFL pedigree. CU needs to find themselves a quarterback that can play, but first they must find the right coach.
Mel Tucker may be struggling at Michigan State in his 3rd season, but he showed the ability to do two key things, assemble talent and coach! Mel Tucker is a phenomenal coach. CU lacks what other legitimate Power 5 schools have, MONEY. CU couldn’t dream of matching Tucker’s contract at Michigan State because the fundraising/alumni donor base can’t touch many SEC, Big Ten and Big XII schools. That is more than just an Athletic Department problem, but it is part of the problem at Colorado. Colorado can not afford to take a coach that lacks passion, drive and the understanding to win at the FBS level. Colorado’s next head coach has to come from one of the following:
Former College Coach at Power 5 program that had respect of team, state and fanbase but they had higher expectations than just making bowl games. Your list of those guys starts with:
Gary Patterson-Took what Dennis Franchione started and built TCU from a G5 power into a legit P5 team. 16 bowl game in 18 years. He was 14-16 his last two and a half years. Obviously he had the groundwork built with TCU 5-0 under Sonny Dykes which doesn’t typically happen without talent and the right culture.
Bronco Mendenhall-He was 99-43 at BYU, 36-38 at Virginia despite a 2-10 start. He is less than a year out of the game. He’s got a podcast that helps him stay connected with the game. His LDS background may turn off the Boudler base, but they don’t give a shit about football anyway so who cares? The Boulder/CU community will be talked about further later.
Dan Mullen, Tom Herman, Clay Helton, etc.
Matt Rhule-Rhule has nothing to prove. He can retire on the money Carolina owes him. But he’s a coach and coaches are never satisfied, so why not CU?! He was at Baylor. He can recruit Texas. He’s hungry. YES!!!
Current Power 5 or G5 Head Coaches that are successful
Look at Sun Belt and other G5 schools for coaches that teams are winning and scoring. You have to score in college football. Innovation is key. CU has ran a 1990s era offense under Dorrell. INNOVATE.
Maybe a Dino Babers type-HOW?! Well, maybe that coach is tired of their situation. Money isn’t much different and CUs facilities and area is an upgrade. I think this is the toughest get.
Current Power 5 Coordinators from Powerhouse Schools
CU nearly inked Ryan Day before they settled on getting Mel Tucker.
Steve Sarkisian’s contract was torn up before they freaked out and ended up with Karl Dorrell.
These aren’t really bullet point names but a point made to show Rick George understands who the top dogs are that are out there and guys he has liked in his previous two hires.
Talking Rick George and getting away from the head coach talk, that’s where we truly start seeing things that need to change. Rick George helped raise money for the Champions Center and getting the things done that needed done to improve Folsom and the IPF. The problem is we haven’t taken that next step. I think that’s not just RG getting lazy, but frustrated from the leadership above him. Phil DiStefano is a nightmare and the Regents serve no purpose to help the athletic life. Rick George needs to be allowed to make this hire, not get any further contract extension until he’s proven what he can do in the next 24 months. In those 24 months, Phil DiStefano HAS to be gone and the Regents, including the football advocates that are running embarrassing governor campaigns, need to give the athletic department the money and resources and stay the fuck out of the way. That’s the key, Chancellor DiStefano gone and regents support and stay out of the athletic departments way.
Rick George needs money and he needs to hire. Let him balance the books. Let him for once ask for some school funding since he’s been running a self sustaining department since Day 1 and get out of the man’s way. Give RG something to be passionate about like he was up until the day Tucker left and he settled.
I could expound further on why the Regents must stay out of it and DiStefano must be gone, but there isn’t much else to say. The Regents have some liberal idiots that don’t see the value in football. I’m a liberal idiot that knows without football, CU is operating a G5 at best school athletic department and likely would have to fold many of the programs they have or move to an FCS level type athletic model. CU needs football to be successful in order to continue to grow with the changing times of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), conference realignment and TV dollars.
The end of our time comes with those things. Rick george must get the donor money from businesses in this state and beyond to compete with NIL, not this lunchbox mentality which is a penny to the dollar of Power 5 schools. Next, CU must line up with the Big Ten or join a power conference in the Big XII. The alumni base may be in California, but the passion for football resides in the South and in the Midwest and CU is losing money by sticking with the Pac 12. CU doesn’t have baseball. Folsom was full in the Big XII, it’s 75-90% capacity with the Pac 12. The passion of other fanbases that give a shit matters. CU needs to hook themselves to this next wagon immediately and create a Power 4th with Big XII/Pac 12 schools that want to make big money with this upcoming TV deal. The next 2-3 months will be important in CUs football success coaching wise, they must get the right guy there but the next 9 months and shaping themselves with money, TV, NIL are what will determine if that hire will be successful.
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