Colorado coach Dan Hawkins fired
After a tumultuous stint with the school, embattled University of Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins was relieved of his duties on Tuesday 9 November, in the midst of his fifth season at the helm. As of now, associate head coach Brian Cabral will take Hawkins’
place for the 3-6 Buffaloes.
Although his team got off to a promising start, winning three of its first four contests, the Buffaloes have gone win-less since, losing five straight games. To make matters worse, all of those defeats have come at the hands of in-conference rivals, as Colorado
remains without a win in the Big 12. Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn recognized as much, and decided Tuesday that it was time to make some major changes within his program.
“We collectively believed that it was important to provide the opportunity for Dan as head coach and his current staff to pull things together, and things looked bright just one month ago after we opened with a 3-1 record,” Bohn said in a prepared statement,
according to ESPN.com. However, the AD was reluctant to allow the current situation to continue its course.
“Things have gone downhill from there,” the athletic director continued. “While we recognize the progress that we have made in several areas during nearly five years under Dan, the negativity and divisiveness that is associated with the current leadership has
become detrimental and is beyond repair to our current enterprise and it’s time to make a change.”
Hawkins’ firing marks the first time in the school’s prestigious history that a head coach was relieved during the regular season. Bohn has stated that he expects to put together a search committee by the end of the week to help find a replacement for Hawkins,
who was just 19-39 in his time with the Buffs.
The coach, whose son Cody also serves as the team’s starting quarterback, was understandably upset, not with the decision, but by the fact that he failed to bring more to such an esteemed program.
“I’ve met some tremendously special people and had some fantastic experiences during my time here at Colorado,” the head coach said in a statement, according to ESPN.com. "Unfortunately, I was not able to bring the wins that so many Buff faithful wish for and
deserve. My biggest pain comes from not being able to see the joy and happiness on our players' faces on more occasions following a victory.”
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