Buffs coach confident he will be sticking around in Boulder
Colorado Buffaloes head football coach Dan Hawkins said Tuesday at his media conference that he believes he will still be leading the Buffs squad for a “long time.” This is news some Buffs faithful are certainly not excited to hear.
“I’m not a quitter. I am a fighter. And I’ve been through this before, in a lot of different places…we’ll see it through, and we’ll make it happen. I have 100 percent confidence in that, 100 percent confidence.”
This comes in response to further criticism Hawkins has received after an unexpectedly awful start to the season. The team is just 2-5 (1-2 Big XII) and most recently dropped their game against the Kansas State Wildcats. The Buff turned in an awful offensive performance last Saturday against in Manhattan, Kansas, racking up only 60 rushing and 184 passing yards.
In the last two minutes of the first half Dan Hawkins son, Cody Hawkins, was inserted back into the game for the first time since the Buffs loss to the Texas Longhorns. Cody was benched after the loss and Buffs new starter Tyler Hansen came in to play a remarkable game in his first start against the Kansas Jayhawks. Buffs fans stormed Folsom Field after the upset win and fans chanted Hansen’s name long into the night. Even Cody seemed happy on the sidelines, celebrating with Hansen after every touchdown and barking out play calls from the sideline with enthusiasm. Cody seems to relish his role on the sideline and appears destined to be a coach one day; he may even help this Buffs team more from the sideline than the playing field. It was assumed by fans that Cody would not see playing time again unless Hansen got hurt after his stellar performance, but this was not to be the case. According to the coaching staff, Hansen was not yet ready to manage the team down the field for a two minute drill. Apparently neither was Cody as he threw an interception on the drive and tacked on another in the second half as the Buffs tried to rally from the 20-6 deficit late in the 4th quarter.
Hawkins finished just 10-23 for 95 yards and the two interceptions while Hansen went 7-14 for 89 yards.
Hansen clearly throws the better ball in games as his passes have zip where Hawkins’ seem to flutter out of his hand with an awkward rotation. Hawkins never really has a chance though because he is constantly running plays that have him scrambling out of the pocket the second he touches the ball. This is making it hard for his offensive lineman to pick up blitzing schemes and it is causing Hawkins to throw the ball off his back foot time after time. This is leading to the poor passes and is helping this Buffs offense self destruct.
Now, after this latest disappointment in the father/son duo, Coach Hawkins announced he is officially sticking with Hansen who Hawkins said is working his way to be able to play full games. Why this was possible at home against Kansas but not one week later at Kansas State is pretty unclear, but something tells me it has a lot to do with the crowd reaction the coach and his son would get if Cody gets any more snaps in Folsom.
Regardless of how the Buffs season has started and how it finishes Coach Hawkins does have reason to be confident in his job: CU would have to pay a $3 million buy-out to get rid of him and with the current state of the economy and a university that is on a budget freeze it is unlikely that is going to happen.
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Comment from Jason Demko
Time: November 11, 2009, 9:07 pm
Confidence is really a plus in winning a game and bringing other member of the team, as well on the top of the game. Courage and positive out look of it will really help them, a lot.
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