Next Coach?

Ivan Maisel of ESPN wrote a great piece on the coaching situation (he also discussed it with Chris Fowler on his podcast) and gave a few new tidbits, including the fact that Bohn had actually made this decision last week and would have fired Embree even if they had pulled out the Utah game (can you imagine the uproar if that had happened?).  It also confirmed that Embree had indeed already told DC Greg Brown AND LB coach Brian Cabral (no bigger Buff than him) that they would be let go and that he was bringing in a new DC, which was not unexpected, however, he was a LB coach (who that was we may never know).  Maisel’s best line on the ordeal was: “In the end, actually, Colorado handed Embree a poker hand with a four, five, seven and eight and fired him for not drawing a six.” Here’s the link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8685178/colorado-buffaloes-troubles-leave-plenty-blame-go-college-football

I still have no clue as to who Bohn thinks he is going to convince to come to Boulder.  Maisel also mentioned how former Oregon coach Mike Belotti turned down the job the last time around because he “judged that Colorado had too many impediments to win.”  If anything, it is a worse situation now than it was two years ago because of what Bohn has done.  Anyway, here is an update on some of the most mentioned names in the coaching search:

Gary Anderson, Utah State: Even though he has said that he is staying in Logan, he appears to be the “guy” Bohn had his eye on from the get go.  However, CU is by no means the only school who is highly interested in him (at least Cal and also Kentucky, before they hired Mark Stoops).   I still contend CU has no chance at him as he will get more lucrative offerS from better situations.

Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State: He might not even be a bug enough name for Bohn, so by the time Bohn settles for him, he will also likely have gotten numerous offers much better than Colorado’s.

Mike McIntyre, San Jose State: His name is growing quickly, being mentioned prominently around Cal and other programs as well.  He has probably moved into the “will get better offers” category.  [It is very possible that one of McIntyre or DeRuyter gets the Cal job, as both have ties to the Bay Area and have been prominently mentioned for that job.]

Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech: Son of coaching legend Spike Dykes is being talked about for the SEC openings, so I really can’t imagine him settling for CU either.  

Willie Taggart, Western Kentucky:  He is an intriguing possibility with his west and east coast recruiting experience but I really haven’t heard that connecting him and CU.

Darrell Hazel, Kent State: Another small school coach, who just doesn’t fit the “splash” profile at all, with few western ties, doesn’t seem likely.

Dave Doeren, Northern Illinois: A new name to pop into the race of whom I know next to nothing about except that he has had great success at his current job and has worked as numerous big-time programs across the country.

Gus Malzahn, Arkansas State:  He was formerly the OC at Auburn and built his reputation mainly on Cam Newton, but he would be a splash name and create an interesting rivalry with CSU, but would he really come here?

Butch Jones, Cincinnati: Same story, why come here?  He has no ties and no reasons to move.

Frank Solich, Ohio: I couldn’t bear a former Nebraska coach, period!

Troy Calhoun, Air Force: Bohn has even said he wasn’t really considering Calhoun since he turned it down last time. 

Jeff Tedford, formerly of Cal, was a definite but he has told people he is not interested in this difficult situation (who can blame him?), and he has 6.9 million reasons not to rush into a new job, and could probably have one of the others if he really wanted one anyway.

Mines coach Bob Stitt is probably a long shot and a local favorite and is personally very interested, but CU wants to make a bugger splash and sources have said he is not a candidate.

Mark Mangino, former Kansas coach:  Thankfully, it appears that the volatile Mangino (think bigger, fatter, white Eric Bienemy) is not a candidate for any position at CU.

If none of the names that have been mentioned seem likely to actually come here, and even more doubtful that some “bigger” name will jump, and that Bohn only wants to steal a current coach and isn’t considering coordinators, who the hell is it going to be, and more specifically, when, because recruiting is crucial. [Note: Remember that Embree put together last year’s 25^th ranked recruiting class, most of it down the stretch, getting 4-star players Crawley and Wright and a few others at the last minute.  Unfortunately, he and his staff won’t get the chance to do it again.]

 Assistant Coaches:  Since none of the assistants have actually been fired (yet, and are supposedly trying to keep recruits in the fold-“No, seriously, you should stay with CU, even though they just screwed my boss and I doubt I’ll be there.”) and whose fate will be decided by the new coach, I wonder if any, such as Cabral, who has survived every coaching change, will be asked, and then if anyone would actually continue working under Bohn’s “leadership”.