Dan Hawkins, We Hardly Knew Ye

"They call it 'Hawk Love' up in Idaho -- that personal, even intimate, touch that coach Dan Hawkins seems to put on every aspect of the thriving program he runs at Boise State."

And now we're losing it. Yesterday Boise State's Dan Hawkins accepted the position as head football coach at University of Colorado, Boulder.

I've been asking myself why we're losing ANOTHER excellent coach (third in a row, the first one to cancer). Then I noticed that his new contract is for $900,000 a year plus a lot of bonuses. That's a powerful incentive to make the move, and from what I read, Boulder is attractive to Hawkins and his family. (Colorado is also spending $700,000 to buy out the remainder of his contract with the Broncos.) That's a step up from the $525,000-a-year contract he has now and the $500,000 contract BSU is signing with the new head coach, Chris Peterson, who helped the Broncos lead the nation in scoring for 4 out of 6 years. (I have no idea what this means, but he did it.)

Peterson choked up during the press conference yesterday and finally said, "I just want to thank Coach Hawkins."

Bryan Harsin, a fellow high school graduate and former BSU quarterback, is getting promoted to offensive coordinator. Do I have to get used to hearing that blue-eyed punk called "Coach?"

As a rule I don't get wound up about sports. But BSU's football record is exciting and I feel a lot of affection for Dan Hawkins. He strikes me as an all-around nice guy, he demonstrates a commitment to the community (he's not above putting in a plug for local companies), and obviously he's a great coach (a 53-10 record with Boise State). Most importantly he reminds me of my cousin Joe. It's a nice face.

"I have no other but a woman's reason. I think him so because I think him so."

I don't begrudge him the move, I'm just so sorry to see him go.

Postscript: A vote of confidence from the Alumni Association at CU. Apparently a director on the alumni Board is "disappointed we didn't pick a black coach...but I also have enough confidence in Mike Bohn to believe that his choice was the best available choice."

"The best available choice" is what I would call high praise. Welcome to Colorado, Coach Hawkins.