—
Perspective
—
After CU’s 42-17 loss to Arizona State, the message board thread titles were all too predictable:
- “Lost Faith Tonight”
- “This is Embree Level Incompetence”
- “See ya Deion”
- “Hello Darkness my old friend”
- “Time to admit CP can’t coach. At all”
- “Coaches Embarrassed us tonight”
The frustration in the Buff Nation is palpable.
And it’s understandable.
Colorado is now 3-8 in the third season under Coach Prime. The program is nowhere near what we thought it would be in November, 2025. Coach Prime is 16-20 overall, a victim of his taunting us with glimpses of the possible.
There was the promise of CU’s meteoric rise to national prominence in the first weeks of the 2023 season … 3-0 and nationally ranked, with the Fox Big Noon Show camped out in Boulder.
Then came the eight losses in nine games, with the Buffs finishing 4-8.
Then there was the promise of CU’s rise during the 2024 season, with the Buffs playing well – even dominating opponents – riding a 9-3 record to the brink of a Big 12 title game appearance.
Then came the Buffs’ flame out in loss after frustrating loss this fall.
Perhaps, if Coach Prime had gone 4-8 in a more normal fashion in 2023, sans hoopla and a national ranking, followed by a once-in-a-generation season from Shedeur and Travis, the Buff Nation might be a little more forgiving of the status of the program in 2025.
As much as I like to hang my hat on CU’s historic pattern of success, the reality is that … pause for effect … Going back a half century, Coach Prime’s record in his first three seasons is better than what all but two CU head coaches have put together over their first three seasons.
Here is a breakdown of the first three years of Colorado football for every coach from the past 50 seasons:
— Chuck Fairbanks (1979-81) … 7-26 … Fairbanks was the Bill Belichick-to-North Carolina story of his day. CU boosters were able to lure Fairbanks – who had won a national championship at Oklahoma – away from the New England Patriots. Sadly for the Buff Nation, things didn’t work out as well for the Buffs. Fairbanks went 0-9 against ranked teams, lost to Drake (twice!), and was on the sidelines for the infamous 82-42 loss to Oklahoma in 1980.
— Bill McCartney (1982-84) … 7-25-1 … It’s hard not to notice that McCartney’s three-year record at Colorado was only a tie better than what Fairbanks posted in his three years in Boulder. McCartney, who just had a statue dedicated in his honor this weekend, went 2-8-1, 4-7, and 1-10 in his first three seasons, going 0-8 against ranked opponents.
And yet, despite barely escaping a winless season (the Buffs’ lone victory in 1984 was a 23-21 win over Iowa State), CU athletic director Dick Tharp not only retained McCartney, he gave Coach Mac a contract extension (pause for a moment to think what would happen at any Power Four school today who gave a third-year coach, with a 7-25-1 overall record and a 1-10 third season, a contract extension).
— Rick Neuheisel (1995-97) … 25-10 … In his first head coaching job (Neuheisel hadn’t even been a coordinator before being promoted from his position as CU’s quarterback coach), “Slick Rick” took one of the best rosters in Colorado history, and parlayed that into 10-2 records in both of his first two seasons. With mostly his own players in 1997, the Buffs went 5-6. Two seasons later, Neuheisel bolted, leaving Boulder for the “greener” pastures at the University of Washington.
— Gary Barnett (1999-2001) … 20-16 … Barnett returned to Boulder after a successful run as the head coach at Northwestern, and put together CU’s lone successful run of the past 30 years. Barnett’s first three teams went 7-5, 3-8, and 10-3, with the 2001 team finishing as the No. 9 team in the country. Barnett would sustain success as CU’s head coach, going on to win the Big 12 North Division three of the next four seasons.
— Dan Hawkins (2006-2008) … 13-20 … Hawkins won 50 games in five seasons as head coach at Boise State, then came to Boulder and put the program on a trajectory from which it has yet to recover. Despite a disastrous 2-10 start in his first season, Hawkins managed to last until 2010, finishing with a 19-39 overall record.
— Jon Embree (2011-2012) … 4-21 … Embree lasted only two seasons, and that was two seasons too many. The nadir was a 69-14 loss to Fresno State (on the heels of a home loss to Sacramento State). Against the Bulldogs, the Buffs fell behind 35-0 … in the first quarter. Embree went 0-7 against ranked teams, with a 3-15 record in CU’s first two seasons in the Pac-12.
— Mike MacIntyre (2013-15) … 10-27 … The only reason Coach MacIntyre was able to keep his position after three seasons was that his abysmal record (including an 0-11 record against ranked teams) was still decent when compared to what Buff fans had endured under Embree. A surprise 10-4 season in 2016 bought MacIntyre some goodwill, but he still finished with a 30-44 record over his seven seasons in Boulder.
— Mel Tucker (2019) … 5-7 … “Midnight Mel” lasted only one season in Boulder before taking off for a better paycheck at Michigan State. Considering what transpired later in East Lansing – including forfeited games, fines, and reduced scholarships still being inflicted upon the MSU program – it may have been for the best that Tucker lasted only one year at Colorado.
— Karl Dorrell (2020-22) … 8-15 … Dorrell managed a winning record during the COVID season of 2020 (4-2), but things went south pretty quickly thereafter. The Buffs went 4-8 and 1-11 in the succeeding seasons, with Dorrell not making it past the halfway mark in Year Three. The 2022 team will live on in CU infamy as the team which was outscored on the season by an average score of 44-15.
— Deion Sanders (2023-25) … 16-20 …
So, in the past half century, only Rick Neuheisel and Gary Barnett have fared better in their first three seasons than has Coach Prime. Neuheisel took over a team which had gone 11-1 the previous season, finishing with a No. 3 national ranking. Gary Barnett took over an 8-4 team coming off a win in the Aloha Bowl.
The scary part of all this, and I totally get it, is the uncertainty of CU’s future.
There is little for Buff fans to hang their hats on going forward, and the possibility of a decline into Jon Embree/Karl Dorrell irrelevance is real.
The Buffs have lost five games by two touchdowns or more this season, including unwatchable routs at the hands of Utah (53-7) and Arizona (52-17). CU is 3-8, with 3-9 staring them right in the face, with a road finale against a Kansas State team which just put up 47 points against a Utah defense with allowed the Buffs all of one touchdown.
There will be coaching changes, which gives a glimmer of hope, but Coach Prime’s track record (four offensive coordinators in six years of collegiate coaching) doesn’t inspire confidence that the fifth time will be the charm.
CU had 34 seniors/grad students honored on Senior Day. Not all were starters, or even major contributors. But over half of the starting lineups on both sides of the ball will need to be replaced … and that’s before we deal with Transfer Portal losses.
And how many Transfer Portal losses will there be? Will Julian Lewis leave Boulder for better opportunities (and a better offensive line)? Will Jordan Seaton take his All-American talent to a place where he will be more likely to receive national accolades?
If the 2026 team is a complete reboot, then I don’t know where the program is going … with or without Coach Prime (The questions which needs to be asked of all the haters, who believe firing Coach Prime is the answer: If you fire Coach Prime, where will the money come from for his buyout? Who will write the checks to bring in the next coaching staff? Who do you believe CU can even get as its next head coach, considering the current national reputation of the program ? Who could bring in better players, and attract more money, than Coach Prime? I’ll wait … ).
CU’s coaching history tells us to be patient, and hope for better days under Coach Prime going forward. If Dick Tharp hadn’t been patient with Bill McCartney, CU wouldn’t have a national championship.
College football’s present, meanwhile, tells us that anything can happen year-to-year, with long dormant programs like Indiana, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech rising from the ashes in short order.
Perspective – and common sense – tells us that we have little choice but to wait … and hope … that Coach Prime can again find the magic formula which can make Colorado nationally relevant.
–
—–
23 Replies to “Perspective”
We are paying $9MM per year to a coach who won 3 games in his 3rd year in the program. A coach who, at a critical point in the game, inserts a walk on back who has never touched the ball in a game in his two years in the program. Said back goes on to fumble the ball away to the opponent, without ever being touched.
There’s no excuse for that.
Coach Prime failed to address the most important coaching position on the team, and whiffed badly on the most important player position on the team. Continued to whiff on the Transfer Portal in general.
Im willing to stay in support of him for another year, maybe two with some good improvement.
However the product he has put out on the field this year, there is just no excuse for that. Buff Nation should not have a team that is just down right embarrassing to watch, in the coaches 3rd season
Chip Kelly, let me rephrase that, genius coach Chip Kelly, is also back on the market.
Go Buffs
Speaking of perspective, does anyone have an example of a college coach taking a historically bad d1/fbs program and instantly turning it around? Last year was great. Next year will be too. This year was rough, but this team isn’t as bad as their record, either.
And hey, cal is hiring now too. Going to be some great case studies out of this cycle.
Go Buffs
Curt Cignetti.
Hey Bill, I don’t think Indiana in 2022 and 2023 were as bad as CU was in 2021 and 2022. I’m also curious how Curt would’ve done without Mendoza coming over from Cal this year? And I’m really curious to see how he does next year without him. Anyone else?
Keep in mind, CU and Indiana can be argued as about the same bottom dwellers since roughly 2001 on the gridiron. But in my estimation at least, as CU was being beaten down in 2022 by an average of something like 40pts, that wasn’t the case for Indiana in 2023 before Curt was hired.
Go Buffs
I’ll take Curt Cignetti too.
You must have a real spasm if you dont get the last word with your nitpicking
Eric,
1) I went to both schools. Indiana a far bigger doormat historically than Colorado. Not close. Indiana a basketball school.
2) The three years prior to Cignetti getting there, they were 9-27. That’s about middle of the road for them historically. Not going to Fiesta Bowls or beating Nebraska
3) Cignetti convinced Mendoza to go there. Didn’t draw him out of a hat.
4) Whet in the world have you seen to think Deion Sanders has a plan? Is having an 85th recruiting class and hoarding time outs the plan?
I love this discussion! Will reply when not on phreaking fone.
Go Buffs
And he went 11-2 in his first year. Without Mendoza.
I’d take Chip Kelly in a heartbeat.
I actually see that as a remote possibility. Not that that’s worth anything. But I think he and Deion get along, if I recall correctly? Chip did just get paid a bunch of money to go away again, so CU could probably afford him. Either way, I trust Deion’s got a plan.
Go Buffs
Great perspective Stuart. I also love all the comments, great perspective there too….I haven’t posted a comment since the snake midnight mel slithered out of town. The one thing I think that Coach Mac and Coach Prime have in common is the want and desire to win and to help these kids become better men. Coach Mac was in the living room of most of his recruits talking to the parents and kids and telling them his vision, and it wasn’t just football, it was to make your son a better man. I realize it was a different time and they were all high school kids, but, if Coach Prime were to get in the living rooms of some of these kids, I believe he would get some of the high school recruits we all desire, and, have them in Boulder for their careers. I may be delusional because of the NIL stuff, but I assume you could talk to the parents and the kids in the portal, with/without their agents, I think it would go a long, long way to helping get the guys we need to compete and win in this messy college football system that we live in. Go Buffs! Hope Shedeur gets a win today.
I’m willing to let Sanders stay but he is going to need help selecting assisting coaches, high school commits and Portal players. Anyone who he doing the research and has been bending his ear in that respect has to go….next weekend at the absolute latest. This has to be a complete house cleaning.
The Matt Russell selection is a good idea. We need someone like him and a few others who know how to identify talent who need to be doing their research and film watching tomorrow morning 12 hours a day until the portal closes. …and not for the most part, wasting time on players we don’t have a chance of attracting.
Focus on the O line. My god, except for Seaton, we cant even be a clock that is right 2 times a day. Watching the current guys its obvious just being well over 300 pounds is not enough. We need players who have explosiveness in their limbs….especially in their legs to move that weight’s momentum into the D line and feet that move fast enough to sustain blocks, pull and trap and get down field quick enough to engage at the second level. I think Seaton came here at 290. The roster calls him at 340 now. I’m sure that has slowed him a little. An even 300 pounds should be enough if you have the required athleticism.
OK I’m out of breath now. Using earaches favorite word, the next couple of months are going to be “interesting” and I hope not too depressing.
The historical data isn’t relevant anymore IMO. It used to be the school’s image and a special coach that decided recruiting. That’s why Mac could built CU up from the ground floor. Now it’s NIL money from the best schools, or else Prime’s and CU’s reputation would have top talent coming here. Prime was a big draw to start and he got kids showcased for the NFL. But now it’s the school with the $$$ that are getting the top transfers and HS recruits CU needs to really get better. We don’t have the budget to compete, and Prime and his staff have not shown themselves to be great coaches who can make the most out of the talent they have in the locker room. Maybe he could grow into that role in time, but the talent isn’t coming here anymore,. For proof I offer last time’s transfers. We only got Kayden for QB, not the really top QB’s who should have wanted to follow in Shedeur’s footsteps. The top ones went for $$$, not the exposure CU would have given them. Same for LB, off and def lines, def backs etc. CU didn’t get a hint of the really top portal guys coming here. Yet shouldn’t we have with Prime as coach, a Heisman trophy winner, and coming off a very successful 9-4 season.
Interesting perspective on the records of previous regimes. Aside from Barnett, and 2016/2024 seasons it have been bleak. We can give some leniency to the coaches after Barnett due to the onerous eligibility requirements, but objectively, Embree, HWSRN, Mickey Mac, and Dorrell were not up to the task. It remains to be seen if Sanders is. I just hope that he has someone who can give him some hard facts. Tell him he needs to hire some experienced college coaches with track records of success. Not washed up clowns like Shurmur or unproven coordinators like Livingston.
He has gone that route and it hasn’t worked. If Sanders is going to be a CEO type, then he needs strong and experienced leadership at the coordinator levels.
Stuart, I think it was Bill Marolt that hired and extended Mac. Liquor Mart Tharp was not that smart.
Your article puts a good perspective on things. Certainly, we need to reshuffle, make coaching changes and coach much better. As GB said, we need to find a way to play complementary football. Prime brings the hype, brought in initial impact players, and set high expectations, so this season has to be personally frustrating, humbling and humiliating. With the hype he brings critics and fan expectations too.
As a program as a whole, I am thankful that we are relevant again, it just not for the right reasons this season. I don’t think Prime will be fired (CU cannot fund a buyout, pay new HC/COs & ACs + compete in NIL at the same time). I hope that Prime does not retire, rather he doubles-down embracing the challenge to get better and evolve as a HC. I do not envision Prime leaving for a better school with higher expectations, however nothing is a given in today’s CFP.
CU’s future “trick” will lie in it’s ability to attract the right ACs/OC, who bring some players with them. CU’s admin, Director of FB operations (Matt Russell would be great hire here) and others will need to help Prime with the coaching changes. They have one last shot to get it right. Cig’s success was that he and his ACs brought players with them, and they are a top-notch staff. Now that he is a proven winner, IU’s recruiting and portaling will be strong.
The 1-11 roster Prime inherited was comparable to what MAC and maybe MikeMAC inherited, if not worse. In hindsight, I’m glad we did not move on from MAC and MikeMac too early. MikeMac got CU as far as he would. However, this is a different year 3 situation, since our coaching staff has not coalesced during Prime’s tenure despite huge turnover, and we are essentially at square 1 again in this regard. It does not have to be across the board, but we need an infusion of AC’s/OC with substantial P-4 experience. I expect us to retain a few NFL guys, but we do need x’s and o’s AC’s with P-4 experience.
Thankfully, there are some building blocks on the CU’s roster that may return, however there are tons of holes to fill as well. XMAS wishes: impact LBs, positive player retention; a much better portal class than this years; a few rabbits pulled out of the hat in HS recruiting; and most importantly a locker-room willing to circle the wagons because they really want to play with each-other taking up the challenge, and strong team leadership to emerge. This season is a disappointment, but we played a bunch of younger players this year, especially last night. We proved in most games we could stay with most teams for 3 quarters, even if was ugly. Last night the 4 TO’s kept us in the game, but only capitalized with 3 points.
Presuming Juju stays, maybe he can hold onto guys that want to play with him + the right coach(es), If so, I think the O can turn things around. Oline has seniors, but we have some touted under-classman too–Carde, Gooden, Attia, Seaton may return.
The D will be tougher to turn around, but at least last night they were creating TOs. I think BL probably stays in some capacity unless he heads back to the NFL. If BL stays, I’ll be interested to see who/if we can get the AC’s the DC really needs to run a better operation. Definitely, we need additional talent here (i.e. an all-world LB) but we played a bunch of young guys on D too, many with opportunities to return.
Assuming Prime stays, I’m keeping my fingers crossed concerning player retention + XMAS wishes and that an improved coaching staff makes a huge difference. For the talent on this roster, other teams will pursue those guys like sharks. Nothing is a given, but I hope CU/Prime can pull this off and by year 5 we have something special.
Sorry to have to write this before the season is officially over.
Next week’s going to be another tough one.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/47068706/kansas-state-klieman-emotional-defiant-close-loss
Let’s see what we got.
Go Buffs
I am dreading it.
Yes, KSU will be mad and will take it out on the Buffs in front of their home crowd; and they’ll get their 6th win and bowl eligibility. That being said, I don’t think it’s lost on anyone in Boulder that Coach Mac’s statue was dedicated and Coach Prime was in attendance. He seems to genuinely want a legacy that goes beyond his NFL career… something that shows perseverance, leading players to overcome adversity. Well, he’s come to the right place…
Sanders has proved that he can promote and charm like few others but can’t teach, motivate, select committed players, strategize, or build a quality, teaching staff. If he’d willing to bring in an assistant head coach to manage the strategizing of offense and defense, player selection and development, game planning and execution, and additional assistant coaches/coordinators, he should stay. Otherwise, he’s of little value. His term has turned from on of hope to one of mockery. Shop the market, find a bright, creative, young replacement and eat the buyout. Want butts in the seats and merchandise sales? Win!!!
Your comments are right on, except I’m willing to give Prime the opportunity to stay, if he can correctly delegate the things you list. He may need help in making those decisions.
I revere coach MAC so much because of the man he was and how he could sell a vision, charm recruits, and hold a locker-room together like few others. However, MAC had an eye in building the much needed overall coaching staff to support him/cover his shortcomings. I think working under Bo Schembechler really helped MAC, and this is not the route Prime came from. I do think Prime can motivate, however his message can become drawled out or stale; so presuming he stays he will need to refine in this regard. Last night, I thought the team played hard for the most part, until mauled/gassed in the 4th Q–that 80 yard run was a back-breaker. We did play a bunch of young players.
I agree, Prime really needs a great Asst. HC and excellent coordinators to manage the game, while he oversees the game with the Asst HC in his ear. CU should have known this when they hired him, and it appears that RG/Lance Carl gave him too much leash in selecting his AC/CO decisions. Maybe they should have known bringing the Jackson State AC’s into the P-5/4 was not a good move given the monumental step up in competition.
IMO, instead of just an AD, CU really needs an adept Director of Football operations–Matt Russell or someone like that could be great if they could get him to be an asset for Prime. At AD, they need someone who can bring $$$$$$$, BBB to CU for NIL etc…
In all the areas you correctly pointed out we are lacking, IMO, GB was a much better in all those areas and actually a better Gameday/Gameweek coach than MAC. For GB, I go back to what he did at NW and the junk defense he threw out v. Texas/Chris Simms to win the B12. At CU, GB proved he could do more with less talent than any CU HC that I remember.
We need Prime to obtain what MAC did on the coaching side. MAC was blessed with a great staff/great AC’s: GB, DiNardo, Tepper, Hankwitz, Simmons and others all had lengthy stays on MAC’s staff. Again, he left MI on good terms and probably had Bo Schembechler’s roladex/advice for AC candidates. Prime needs to learn this lesson and probably have outside help in making the coaching decisions in crafting a great staff.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Well reasoned and expressed. I agree with about all of what you write.
Good perspective Stuart, I agree. It took MacCartney five years to get his team together, but what a team they became. The only two other successful coaches (last fifty years) inherited winning teams and was able to carry on the tradition. It took one bad coach who had to play his son and chased off every good QB both on the team and new recruits to put CU at the bottom.
There’s a list of things from university admin, to scandals for things that should of never had been allowed and bad hires that can be blamed for CU’s crash for two decades … Who pissed off the football gods?
Real CU fans understand that firing Prime would be stupid and anyone who says differently isn’t a well informed fan. In today’s pay to play, everyone wants instant gratification.