DAN HAWKINS

Age:  48

School:  Colorado

Alma Mater:  UC Davis, 1982

Conference:  Big 12

Salary:  $1,100,000

Official Bio:   www.cubuffs.com

Years Coaching:  12

Career Record:  100 - 40 - 1  .709

Years at School:  2

Record at Colorado:  8 - 17   .320

2007 Record:  6 - 7  .462

2007 Cost per Win:  $156,000

Attorney/Agent:  

Contract:     

December 2008 Buyout:  $2,550,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Anyone that had the opportunity to visit Boise, Idaho for a Boise State football game during Dan Hawkins tenure will surely remember their visit well.  Boise is already a great town, especially in the summer and fall before the cold weather sets in, but during Hawkins time running the Boise State football program it was an especially entertaining place to be.  Dirk Koetter got the ball rolling at Boise State in 1999-2000 and Hawkins took them to another level with a 45-7 record between 2002 and 2005.  Not only did Boise State win a lot of games under Hawkins, it was great fun to be at Boise State football games, and a lot of that was directly due to Hawkins ebullient personality and approach to life.  It's not that Chris Peterson is not a good football coach, but that Hawkins just has a lot more fun with life, and his energy certainly sets a tone that makes one believe anything is possible.

In 2005 Dan Hawkins took on his next challenge by accepting the head coaching job at Colorado, and winning football games and championships at CU is certainly a big challenge.  Boulder, Colorado is one of those unique towns in America that combines immense beauty, numerous recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, and a world-class state university.  To be in Boulder, Colorado between mid-April and mid-October is to be in Nirvana (a must is running in the Bolder Boulder 10K over Memorial Day weekend), and we can see why many people might think that building a winning football program at CU would be a snap.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  What Bill McCartney did in building up the Colorado football program in the 1980s was nothing short of a miracle, which was highlighted when CU shared the National Championship in 1990.  The biggest problem that McCartney overcame, and something Hawkins must deal with as well, is the very small amount of top-quality high school players that play football in the state of Colorado.  If one goes back and looks at the rosters of McCartney's great teams at CU, the one thing that jumps out is the number of great players they had from outside the state of Colorado.  Looking at the current CU roster, 56 of the 100 or so players on the team are from outside of the state of Colorado, and 14 of 21 players signed in CU's most recent recruiting class are from outside the state as well.  The top player in the CU recruiting class is 5-star running back Darrell Scott who is from Ventura, California.  If Hawkins wants to build a football program at Colorado that can consistently compete in the Big 12 he must continue to recruit above average players from places other than the state of Colorado, and that will be the huge challenge facing Hawkins in the coming years.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Dan Hawkins and Colorado will have a 5-7 record in 2008.  In 2008, we will all find out in a hurry how far Hawkins has brought Colorado, now entering his 3rd year as the head coach of the Buffaloes.  There are several games on the '08 schedule that could go either way, and we see most of those games going to CU's opponents.  The season opens with the annual very intense rivalry with Colorado State, but CSU has a new head football coach, so Hawkins had damn sure better win this game.  Next up is Eastern Washington at home, which also will have a 1st year coach, so we see CU starting off at 2-0.  The next game is West Virginia and Bill Stewart in Boulder, and this is one of those "could go either way games," and we see a very talented Mountaineers team finding a way to win this one.  Next up is a fascinating trip to Jacksonville, Florida to play FSU, and we are imagining that Bowden, Fisher & Company will have most things going by then, so that runs the CU record to 2-2.  Just when road trips to Texas in Austin and Kansas in Lawrence are not needed on the schedule, here they are, and we see CU losing both of those games, which leaves CU at 2-4.  Kansas State then comes calling in Boulder, and CU should find a way to win this game.  CU is 3-4 after 7 games.  After winning a game the last thing Colorado would want is a trip to Columbia to play Missouri, but the Tigers are up next who might very well be on a run to the Big 12 and National Championship.  A loss in Columbia leaves CU at 3-5.  Texas A&M is next on the docket in College Station, and this is the 2nd of "could go either way" games, but giving the home-field advantage to the Aggies, means another loss for CU.  CU's record is now at 3-6.  The next two games at home are also in the "could go either way" category of games with Iowa State and Oklahoma State, and we see two wins for Colorado in these two home games in Boulder.  That leaves CU at 5-6, with only a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska left to play Bo Pelini's first-year Nebraska team.  We are betting that Pelini has a pretty large impact upon the Nebraska football program in 2008, and by game 12 the Cornhuskers should be playing pretty good football.  A loss to Nebraska leaves Colorado with a 5-7 record, and that would mean a lot of people in Boulder, Colorado will be disappointed with Hawkins tenure at CU, none more than Dan Hawkins himself.

There is only one way for Dan Hawkins to rebuild the Colorado football program, and that is to continue to keep all of the top Colorado recruits in-state and to recruit high-quality players from outside the state.  As Winston Churchill said, "If you are going through hell, keep going."  There is only one way for Colorado to get out the hole they find themselves in, and that is to recruit like mad.  The off-field problems at Colorado during Gary Barnett's tenure (some caused by Gary and many not) have done a lot of damage to CU's reputation among potential high school recruits, and it will take a lot of hard work to get back to the point that Dan McCartney had CU at in the early 1990s.  Colorado must again become the "cool" place to go to school and to play football, and certainly Hawkins has the personality and drive to at least get himself in front of the players that could make a real difference at CU.  Colorado's recruiting classes have improved every year under Hawkins (2006 - 48, 2007 - 32, 2008 - 15) and he must keep that momentum up over the next few years to really bring about a dramatic change in Boulder.  Recruiting hard is one thing, but winning big games (like Oklahoma last year) might even be bigger, because getting Colorado back onto the main stage will make recruiting all that easier, but the inverse of that is that losing a lot of games really makes it hard to convince players to join one's football program.  We are predicting Colorado to have a 5-7 record in 2008, but CU could easily win 8 games if they win all of the games where they face roughly even talent, and those are usually the places where coaching can really make a difference.  We will see if Hawkins can make a real difference in those critical games in 2008.  If not, Dan Hawkins is going to find himself under a lot of pressure entering the 2009 season.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        5-7

Will Dan Hawkins be back for the 2009 season?       YES