SB Nation User Blog: irish1611

Kansas Pays Mangino $3 Million in Settlement, Gives Turner Gill Huge Pay Raise

irish1611 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:09:04 -0000

In a ho-hum sort of move, the University of Kansas has given Mark Mangino a settlement of $3.0 million after his resignation due to the controversy stemming from his treatment of players. Mangino had four years remaning on his contract at $2.3 million a year or $9.2 million total.

The $3.0 million is about the number Colorado would have needed to pay Dan Hawkins to make a change in leadership. Luckily for Kansas, they didn't need to pay the $9.2 million that would have been due to Mangino if he needed to be bought out. The same doesn't go for the Buffs as Mike Bohn gave Dan Hawkins an extension after five games in 2008, extending Dan Hawkins' term from the end of 2010 to January 2013. That extension instantly increased Dan Hawkins total buyout from around $1.1 million if they wanted to buyout his originial contract at the end of 2010 to around $3.0 million.

Further, Dan Hawkins makes about $1.0 million a year as the head coach of Colorado. Mark Mangino made $2.3 million a year. Turner Gill, a somewhat "hot topic" coach even more so last year, received a contract worth $10.0 million over 5 years, good for $2.0 million a year. Turner Gill made $265,000 last year at Buffalo, not a bad day for Gill who promises that this job is not a stepping stone to the next one.

Just last year, Kansas gave basketball coach Bill Self a 10 year, $30 million contract after winning the national championship. Jeff Bzdelik, the CU basketball coach, makes $750,000.

Therefore, the Kansas head coaches in their two major sports make $5 million a year plus a $3 million settlement charge to Mangino. The Colorado coaches make roughly $1.75 million a year. Still on the Colorado books is Gary Barnett's buyout from 2005:

The athletic department remains in deeply in debt with the majority of an $8 million loan from the campus and the CU system in 2006 still to be paid off. Part of that debt was caused by the last coaching change when Bohn fired Gary Barnett at the end of the 2005 season and hired Hawkins.

It helps to have a top tier basketball program, it helps to have a well run athletic department and it helps to be able to pay your coaches 2.8 times more than another Big 12 team.

I have been as outspoken as anyone about Dan Hawkins' performance and I struggle how his performance warrants a fifth year but if we are going to pay the next football coach $1.0 million in salary with the limitation of assistant coaches only receiving one year contracts, this cycle of underperformance will continue. Do I think their are coaches out there who can make $1.0 million a year at Colorado that can get the Buffs to 6 - 6 or 7 - 5 and to a bowl game? Absolutely, it's not like we are recruiting to horrible college town, their are plenty of advantages to going to school in Boulder. But the ceiling would probably 7 wins every year, not a bad deal compared to the last four seasons but let's be honest, their isn't a lot of excitement around programs with a ceiling at 7 wins a year.

Nothing new but the main question I think for Mike Bohn now is what are we doing to close the financial gap between programs like Kansas and Missouri in the North? Are we really that far away from Kansas in terms of finances? I know they are probably ahead of us due to their basketball program but 2.8 times?

It once again begs the question: How serious is the administration about it's athletic programs?

Buffs Land 12th Commit in Texas DE Kirk Poston

irish1611 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:15:00 -0000

The Buffs received a verbal pledge from Texas DE prospect Kirk Poston today. Poston seems like a very solid prospect and other than QB Munchie Legaux, he has the most BCS offers of any other current verbal commitment. Poston's main recruiting contact was defensive line coach Romeo Bandison. Kirk's father is an NFL agent. A few sources has the 6'2" 232 pound defensive end running a 4.7 forty and he looks pretty big on film. Defensive end is certainly a position of need on this team as Forrest West and Marquez Herrod are really the only returning defensive ends from 2009 who played extensively. The coaching staff moved Josh Hartigan to DE late in the year, Conrad Obi was only in on seven plays a year ago and highly recruited freshman Nick Kasa battled injuries all year. Colorado also has another verbal from defensive end California prospect Chidera Uzo-Diribe. Uzo-Diribe has only played football for two years at the high school level so he is a raw talent but is very athletic. More on Poston below:

Kirk Poston
Rivals Star Rating -
DE - Houston, TX - St. Pius X High School
Recruiting Sites: Rivals - Scout - ESPN.com
Video: YouTube
Measurables: 6'2" 232lbs
Rankings: Rivals - NR, Scout - 120th DE, ESPN - 93rd DE
Status - Committed to Colorado
Offers and Other Interested Schools - offers from Colorado, Arizona, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Houston, Duke, Kansas State

From KDVR Denver:

Kirk Poston, the defensive end out of St. Pius X high school in Houston, Texas, has made his choice to play for the Buffaloes.

"My highly recruited son, (defensive end out of Houston) verbally commits to the University of Colorado," said Kirk's father, NFL agent Carl Poston to Fox31's Josina Anderson.

Poston is a 6'2, 230lb defensive lineman that has been described as physical and hard playing. Scouts have written Poston is best utilized when he's allowed to roam around the line.

Poston visited Colorado's campus Nov.7, the same weekend his father's client Ty Law came to town and agreed to play for the Broncos.

"I like defensive line coach Romeo Bandison, and CU's business school. Plus with a few more players we can play for a national championship like CU did in the past," said Kirk Poston via text.

Poston finished his senior season with 13 sacks.

Here is ESPN.com's take:

Poston comes across as a physical and hard playing defensive lineman. He moves around the line in high school and that may be how he is best utilized in college as he is not truly a defensive end. While he looks a little bigger on film then what he is listed, it might be more ideal if he could add more bulk and fit a bit more into a defensive tackle type role. He displays a good get-off. He is a tough kid versus the run. Displays the ability to fairly consistently come off the ball and generate power from his lower body and shoot his hands and stand a blocker up and hold his ground. Displays good strength to be able to shed from the block. Needs to be a little more consistent in quickly pressing the blocker off him when he engages. He plays with a good motor and pursues to the ball. He is a solid tackler. He displays adequate ability to change directions in a short-area. As a pass rusher he is not a kid that will just run by blockers, but flashes the ability to be violent with his hands in trying to knock the blockers hands down. He can also bull rush when he comes off the ball low. Poston is a bit of a 'tweener, but is a kid who can be physical and tough in trenches and is a solid defensive line prospect.

St. Pius X's coach Rene Ramirez describes Poston:

Daniels, the University of Texas signee, and senior Kirk Poston anchor the defensive line at the ends.

"They're both ferocious in the way they play the game," coach Rene Ramirez said of Daniels and Poston. "They're both intense and they put a lot of pressure on the (opposing) quarterback."

"He’s a high motor guy and a great student."

Poston was named TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) Division One All State first team defense in 2008.

Here is a highlight video from his junior year:

Kyle Ringo of the BDC Chat - Tons of Good Information, Ringo Is Telling It Like It Is

irish1611 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:13:52 -0000

Kyle Ringo of the BDC Chat - Tons of Good Information, Ringo Is Telling It Like It Is

Regarding Darrell Scott:

I've heard that he has had communication of some sort with CU coaches and that there might be a slim chance that he will return to the program. But I have also heard he is considering going to Arizona. Very uncertain at this point

On the mismanagement of the Hawkins situation:

Of course it's hurting. How could it not hurt? That's why it was completely foolish to handle the situation the way it was handled. If they were going to keep Hawkins, they should have came out and said so at midseason and been done with it then, so it would be much less of an issue now. Instead they managed to get every last drop of negative press they could and just at the last moment, they found a way to get even more of it. It's an absolute disaster and a clinic in how to mismanage the situation. ...But that is what happens when you have someone swoop in from on high and micromanage a situation for political reasons. A total dropping of the ball.

On Colorado's mediocre recruiting effort so far:

Far below mediocre? Sure. define it anyway you want. When you're ranked in the 60s and 70s in recruiting and you play in the Big 12 Conference, you're not getting the job done. You're Baylor. Teams like Boise State can be in the 60s and 70s every year because they only have to beat a couple teams every season and smash the cupcakes on the rest of the schedule and they can win their conference and go to a decent bowl or even rise up to the BCS bowls. Different deal at a BCS school

On the real reason Hawkins was retained:

This is the problem with "the real story." No one who allegedly has proof of what happened or was involved in what happened wants to talk about it. I have tried to get boosters to talk to me about it with no success so far. Mike Bohn has turned down an interview request and says he won't be discussing the topic any more and is working toward the future. So unless someone out there decides to grow a pair and stand up tell the truth, we will probably never know. ...Having said all of that, some of my sources who I trust have told me that president Benson refused to allow the firing and buyout because it would have caused political problems with his lobbying efforts at the Legislature. So Hawkins was retained

Buffs Lose 4* In-State RB Commit Mister Jones to Texas A&M

irish1611 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:12:46 -0000

According to the Scout.com Texas A&M site, the Colorado Buffaloes have lost their highest ranked commit of the 2010 cycle. Colorado prep and Littleton high school star RB Mister Jones has decommitted from the University of Colorado and switched his pledge to Texas A&M.

Jones, thought to be a lock because he grew up idolizing the University of Colorado and was considered the man of the house taking care of his siblings, had voiced his concern over the program in prior months but still said he was excited to be a Buff late in the season. But a 3 - 9 record for CU in 2009 shouldn't make this a big surprise, even if Jones has every other reason to stay at home and play for his home town team. If you remember, Jones attended the Colorado State game earlier this year and voiced his concern over Hawkins inability to motivate his team at halftime as well as the crushing loss to Toledo on national television (source:Buffzone.com):

Littleton High School running back Mister Jones committed to CU in June, but he said Saturday he has decided to make official visits to other programs because he is concerned about the state of things in Boulder.

"I mean, it's obvious," Jones said when asked why he has decided to schedule visits. "They lost to like Toledo and Colorado State the last couple weeks. The CU program isn't doing too good right now."

This is the second four star commit to have said "no thanks" to Colorado this month. Other Colorado prep star QB Danny Spond decommitted from Colorado to look at other schools. Spond said the Buffs were still high on his list but the news of Jones decommitting will only provide Spond with more reasons to stay away from Boulder.

It really is a kick in the pants that two of the top rated Colorado prep recruits decommitted and who can really blame them? We all knew after Darrell Scott decommitted, the negative publicity towards the University after they gave Hawkins a fifth year after going 16 - 33 and losing to Toledo & Colorado State would have a negative impact on this program and it's recruiting.

Again, the worst part of this deal is Mister Jones is about as close as a lock to a program as you can get, other than a guy like TE Kyle Slavin who had family members attend the University. From day one Jones said his commitment was the Buffs to lose and really wanted to play in Boulder.

One of the main reasons Mike Bohn hired Dan Hawkins and reiterated his approval of Hawkins late in November was to repair the Buffs' image in the community, especially in the state of Colorado. Four years later, the Buffs currently have one commit from a Colorado high school athlete in TE Kyle Slavin. Slavin is ranked 11th in the state of Colorado according to rivals.com. QB Danny Spond, WR Kenny Bell and DE Nduka Onyeali remain the only uncommitted prospects in the state of Colorado and none look like they will attend CU unless something drastic happens. I think the kids in Colorado have sent a deafening message to the University of Colorado about the image of the program.

While Dan Hawkins talks about having to open up another email account because of the criticism he is receiving and his dislike for speaking engagements in the state of Colorado, the program continues to fail in ~~almost~~ all of the important aspects of becoming successful.

Just yesterday, defensive backs coach Greg Brown left Colorado to coach at the University of Arizona. Brown was considered one of Colorado's best coaches. Up to this point Dan Hawkins has stated that he plans to make no changes to his staff and Mike Bohn has made it well known that Hawkins' return for a fifth year carried no stipulations of having to make changes to his staff.

Texas A&M currently has nine running backs on its roster, six of which are underclassmen. They return their two top backs from a year ago in junior Cyrus Gray and sophomore Christine Michael, a former 5 star and top running back recruit a year ago. A&M also has another four star running back commit for the 2010 cycle in 5'9" 201 pound Ben Malena.

The Colorado Buffaloes on the other hand have six total running backs on the roster. Demetrius Sumler will be a senior next year which leaves only Rodney Stewart and Brian Lockridge as running backs who have seen any action. The Colorado coaches made it clear last year that they don't have a desire to play Lockridge with any consistency although he is one of the fastest players on the team. Mister Jones was thought to have had a chance to play from day one especially when you consider Rodney Stewart has not stayed healthy for a full season his first two years.

Buffs Land 11th Commitment, JUCO OL Eric Richter

irish1611 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:32:37 -0000

The Colorado Buffaloes added some offensive line depth today as they received a verbal commitment from a big offensive lineman in Eric Richter, according to his rivals.com player page. Richter, the 6'5" 315 pound guard, played his last two seasons at Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo, California. Before attending junior college, Richter played his high school ball at Capistrano Valley. Saddleback Junior College is the same institution that produced former Buff commit RB PT Gates and former Buff player QB Nick Nelson. Gates failed to qualify and Nelson never saw much action in his time at Colorado. As is always the case at the University of Colorado, we will have to see if Richter will have admissions issues coming from a junior college. We all know the stories of LB Shaun Mohler and WR Andre Simmons and the difficulty in academically qualifying for Colorado. Hopefully he is a full qualifier and can get into school starting this spring semester, something that helps any incoming student athlete adjust to division one football and University classes.

Richter had a strong sophomore season at Saddleback, anchoring the offensive line on a team that won their bowl game and finished 9 - 2 in the National Division Southern Conference:

The accolades continue to pile in for the football team, which finished 9-2 on the season, winning the Western State Bowl 31-20 over College of the Canyons on November 21. A total of 14 members of the team were named to the National Division Southern Conference All Conference teams.

The Gauchos had two unanimous choices, with offensive guard Eric Richter.

Richter also had offers from Arkansas State and San Diego State. He was receiving interest from SEC and PAC 10 schools as well but had not been offered before his commitment to Colorado.

Back when he was in high school at Capistrano, Richter played in the Orange County All Star game

Here is a piece from his junior college website:

Returns to Saddleback for his sophomore season after playing in six games as a freshman in 2008. He was a First Team All-South Coast League selection as a both a junior and senior at Capistrano Valley High School. Richter plans to major in criminal justice and his cousin, Ian Kennedy, is a pitcher in the New York Yankees organization.

More to come as we get more information, welcome Eric.

DB Coach Greg Brown Leaves Team, Heads for Arizona

irish1611 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:08:18 -0000

Defensive backs coach Greg Brown has decided to leave his post at Colorado and head for greener pastures at the University of Arizona. In an announcement that is soon to come, Arizona will give Greg Brown a promotion to co-defensive coordinator as well as defensive backs coach. Arizona was close to a PAC 10 championship this year, beat USC and ended up winning 8 games in a turn around year for the Wildcats. Arizona will play later this month against Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

This is clearly a situation of looking at two programs going in the opposite directions and the program who is on the upswing offering a coach a long term deal and a promotion.

Last year, Brown was courted by South Florida before turning down a coordinator position.

Statistically in 2009, the Colorado pass defense finished 35th in the nation and 4th in the Big 12 which was the best offensive or defensive ranking on the team. After a rough start to the year where the Buffs ranked 75th in pass defense, the last six weeks of the year the Colorado secondary only allowed two teams over 200 yards and held two opponents in Nebraska and Kansas State to under 100 yards.

Two years ago, Greg Brown's secondary was labeled in the preseason as the biggest weak spot on the team but overall, they turned in one of the more surprising performances and overachieved compared to expectations.

The secondary was considered one of the most talented units on the team, thanks in large part to Greg Brown. Next year, Colorado has to replace some exceptional players in CB Cha'pelle Brown and S Ben Burney. Also, one must wonder what this announcement will do to the decision of CB Jimmy Smith who is weighing the option of playing in the NFL.

Congratulations to Coach Brown who has strong roots in the state of Colorado with his father being radio personality Irv Brown.

As for the situation on the Colorado side, this is certainly not good news. You could make a strong argument that Greg Brown is the best coach on the staff. The Buffs face a major rebuilding project in the secondary and not having Brown to lead the charge is a little troubling. The obvious replacement for Greg Brown is current wide receiver coach and former NFL defensive back Ashley Ambrose, someone Brown was instrumental in bringing to the program as a coach.

Live Game Thread - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Colorado Christian Cougars

irish1611 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:30:42 -0000

5-3, 0-0
NR (AP)
NR (Coaches Poll)

December 7th, 2009
7:07 pm MT
Who: Colorado Buffaloes vs. Colorado Christian Cougars
Where: Coors Event Center
TV: None
Radio: 760-AM
Line: None
Colorado Christian Site: Colorado Christian Athletics

1-4, 0-0
NR (AP)
NR (Coaches Poll)

Welcome to the Ralphie Report as the Colorado Buffaloes get ready to take on the Colorado Christian Cougars in Boulder, Colorado. The Buffs are looking to extend their home winning streak to 5 in a row against a division II CCU team that has only won once this year out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

From CUBuffs.com:

Colorado Christian comes into tonight's game with one win after five games. The Cougars defeated Western State on Sunday, Dec. 6, 77-69 at the Cougar Event Center in Lakewood. Jobi Wall recorded his first double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds, along with four assists. Justin Neuhaus added 10 rebounds, eight points and seven blocked shots as CCU led by nine points at halftime. The Cougars shot 45.6 percent from the field and made 11 treys.

Throw all your comments about tonight's game below and let's get this thing rolling. If you don't have an account, sign up here for free and enjoy all that our site has to offer.

Join our Twitter and Facebook pages! Go Buffs!

Dan Hawkins Talks About Getting A New Email Account Because of the Overflow of Emails to His...

irish1611 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:35:10 -0000

Dan Hawkins Talks About Getting A New Email Account Because of the Overflow of Emails to His Original Colorado Account
-Here is the 9news article:

"I go, 'Guys, you can rip me all you want and I'm good with that. But just tell me how to get better.' You can tell me I'm a jerk. OK, I'm a jerk. WHY am I a jerk? What do I need to do not to be a jerk?," Hawkins said. "So, hey, everybody wants to win and everybody's passionate and that's great. We just have to keep following it and there will be lots of joy on Folsom Field here."

Future Buff QB Nick Hirschman Leads High School Team to Coast Section Division II Title

irish1611 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:19:28 -0000

Congratulations to Buff commit QB Nick Hirschman, who capped off an amazing high school season with a section championship Saturday night. His Los Gatos team beat Wilcox 20 - 19 in overtime as Hirschman completed a pass on 4th down in the extra period for the go ahead score. Wilcox missed an extra point on their first overtime possession which allowed Los Gatos to win the game.

This game sounded pretty crazy. Here is the recap of the missed extra point:

On the first extra point attempt Cesar Duenas’s kick was good, but the play was waved off because it had been blown dead when Los Gatos went offsides. On the next attempt, Wilcox was called for illegal motion setting the kick back 5 yards. The next snap was high forcing Duenas to make an unsuccessful desperation pass.

But Hirschman's team wouldn't have been there without a successful hook 'n ladder play with 2:04 seconds remaining for 70 yard score:

Los Gatos trailed 13-6 and was at its own 30 yard line with 2:04 left when Cattolico made the call of the game.

Hirschman threw a strike to Hackman-Salazar over the middle going right to left about 15 yards downfield Hackman-Salazar pitched to Andrew Berg who burst to the right sideline for the remaining 55 yards of a 70-yard touchdown getting a key block from Sam Bowers. Heimer’s extra point tied the game.

"We’ve been practicing that play every day waiting for that exact type of situation," said Hirschman who was 14 of 25 for 192 yards. "For it to work like that with two minutes left that was unreal."

In other news:

-It looks like the Nebraska vs. Colorado game played a week ago no longer has any interest on a national level. In fact, the game received the lowest ratings of any football game ABC put on its station this entire season. Todd Henrichs of HuskerExtra.com wonders how long ABC will stay committed to the game:

This is purely speculation on my part, but I wonder how long the Big 12 and television partner ABC will stay committed to having the NU-Colorado game on Black Friday. The overnight TV rating of 1.9 for this year’s game from Boulder was the lowest of the season for any college football game on ABC, and it marked the third time in four years that the NU-CU game drew the lowest ranking of any college football played on network television that day. Predictably, NU-Colorado was crushed in the ratings by Alabama-Auburn, which drew a 4.8 rating on CBS. But the Illinois-Cincinnati lead-in on ABC drew a 2.5.

On a positive note, last night's game between Texas and Nebraska turned into a defensive slug fest. Colorado's offense a week before put up 406 yards on Nebraska while Texas could only muster 222. But the more amazing thing was Colorado's ability to limit All-World Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh. Against Texas, Suh destroyed the Longhorn offensive line to the tune of 12 total tackles, 7 for loss and 4.5 sacks. It was an amazing performance. Against Ryan Miller and the Colorado offensive line, Suh had a rather pedestrian day, only accounting for five tackles and a phantom sack on a bad intentional grounding call.

-Moving on to the hardwood, the men's basketball team lost a bad one this past Friday night as Colorado failed to do the little things on the defensive end to stop Oregon State. The Boulder Daily Camera has the story:

The offensive fireworks have been present throughout the season. But the more aggressive and determined Beavers outscored CU 10-2 in crunch time, despite making just one field goal in the final four minutes. "We can`t have certain guys go without defensive rebounds the entire game," Bzdelik lamented. Higgins, the team`s leading rebounder last season, had two defensive rebounds in 39 minutes. Relphorde had one rebound in 29 minutes. CU out-rebounded Oregon State 32-30 thanks to 15 offensive rebounds, including six by Burks. However, the Buffs allowed 12 costly second-chance points and sent the Beavers to the foul line 34 times. "It`s real simple: We need to rebound and defend," Relphorde admitted. "We gave them a lot of free points off offensive rebounds. I know I did a terrible job on the defensive glass. We`re scoring the ball. We need to rebound."

Former Buff Commit RB PT Gates Leads Grand Valley State to Division II Title Game

irish1611 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:50:18 -0000

Former Buff Commit RB PT Gates Leads Grand Valley State to Division II Title Game

The one time Colorado Buffalo commit P.T. Gates has resurfaced at Grand Valley State and had an impressive day, leading the Lakers back to another division II title game.

Gates carried the ball 27 times for 182 yards and two scores. He also caught four passes for 69 yards. Not a bad day.

On the year as a backup running back, Gates has 137 carries for 975 yards, a 7.2 yard average and 10 touchdowns.

Remember "Gates originally committed to San Diego State. He didn't qualify academically, however, and ended up at Saddleback. He made repeated attempts to end up at Colorado, but his admittance reportedly was held up by the lack of a required associate's degree."

Dan Hawkins compared Gates to Reggie Bush once he committed to the Buffs.