CU hot seat warming like the weather
By Bruce Plasket 
| August 7, 2009 | 8:45 PM
Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins will be under pressure this season. (Photo from Newscom)
Two good things about the Tour de France:
It’s over.
And, the end of the seemingly interminable race means football practice is just around the corner.
Actually, practice began Monday for the Air Force Falcons, who were allowed to start early because classes started on Thursday. Players reported to camp Thursday at the University of Colorado, Colorado State and the University of Wyoming. CU and CSU went through meetings and housekeeping chores and hit the practice field for the first time on Friday. The Wyoming Cowboys tried to practice on Thursday, but were driven off the field by lightning and rain.
Here in Colorado, the cool, wet summer is turning hot and dry just in time to make two-a-day-practicing football players wonder why they were so anxious for practice to start.
Earlier this week, several University of Colorado football players ran stairs in Folsom Field under a scorching sun while fourth-year coach Dan Hawkins watched from his treadmill workout in the Dal Ward Center. If fans chat boards and “media experts” — two words that should never appear together — are to be believed, Hawkins is facing a greater heat than the ripples radiating from the stadium steps. Speculation has it that it’s hotter inside Dal Ward than outside.
Hawkins, who has shrugged off speculation that his job is in jeopardy if his team fails to post its first winning season, added fuel to the fire last spring when he uttered the now-infamous “10 wins, no excuses” quote. The media, which has made a habit of taking quotes from CU coaches out of context to create firestorms over the past five years, said Hawkins guaranteed 10 wins.
Actually he didn’t.
Placing his comments in context, Hawkins seemed to be saying he will be disappointed with fewer than 10 wins. And, he seemed to be firing up his players and boosters with his public comments. Perhaps he should have said, “Two, three wins. Whatever.”
Now that would have been a good firestorm.
With a three-season record of 13-24 and on the heels of a 5-7 season, bigger things are now expected of Hawkins and his team. The honeymoon that followed Hawkins’ hiring after the you-know-what in 2005 is apparently coming to an end.
On the plus side, Hawkins has a gifted, huge, young offensive line that gained a lot of experience when about half of the line went down with injuries a year ago. Quarterback Cody Hawkins, assuming he gets the job, will enter his third season as the starter. The rumored emphasis on a pro-set offense and a physical running game should suit the younger Hawkins much better than the spread formations that are ill-suited to his skills. Tyler Hansen, who took Hawkins place at times last year, has shown flashes and has both size and a good arm.
To bolster a thin wide receiving corps, CU has brought in what seems like a couple dozen receivers. California prep star Will Jefferson signed just last week, but may have both the talent and the opportunity to play as a true freshman. Juco transfer Andre Simmons was cleared academically this week and also will be eligible. Two incoming freshmen, 6-foot-4 Terdema Ussery and 6-foot-5 Jared Darden, will give CU some numbers at wide receiver and give coaches hope that someone will emerge from a group that is long on size and speed but short on experience.
The Buffs’ linebacking corps, in which coach Brian Cabral annually finds or creates good players, should be a strength and the secondary, while not real deep, is certainly in the top half of Big 12 secondaries.
But, all is not granola and Subarus under the Flatirons.
While CU’s offseason was not exactly Broncoesque in its drama, it had its moments. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich left for Oregon in the offseason and wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau was promoted to coordinator.
Helfrich wasn’t the only one to let the door hit him. Backup quarterback Matt Ballenger and presumptive No. 1 receiver Josh Smith transferred. So did tight end Ryan Wallace. Two touted recruits — defensive tackle Edward Nuckols and offensive lineman Shawn Simon — have been grayshirted, meaning they cannot enroll until January and won’t be eligible until 2010. Senior guard Devin Head is academically ineligible and linebacker Lynn Katoa left the program after problems off the field and in the classroom. Another recruit, quarterback Josh Moton, faces up to a one-month wait to see if his academic records clear the NCAA.
CU also must replace starters on the defensive line, while someone must emerge from the wide receiver pack to provide the Buffs with help for 2008 leading-receiver Scotty McKnight and the surprising Jason Espinoza.
Numbers: CU will have at least six of its 12 games — including all four non-conference games — televised. The guys who look like Robert De Niro’s character in Casino have put the over-under on CU’s wins at an ambivalent 6.5 and have placed the Buffs’ odds of winning the Big 12 at 20-1. CU’s chances of winning the national championship are listed at 125-1. Texas, with an over-under win number of 10.5, leads the pack, according to the degenerate gamblers, with a 13-10 chance of winning the Big 12 and an 11-2 chance at the national championship.
Air Force Falcons, Big 12 Conference, college football, colorado state university, Dan Hawkins, Jason Espinoza, josh morton, Scotty McKnight, university of colorado, Wyoming Cowboys
