Sure, there are clear limitations at CU.
But that still does not explain the overall timeline of the Dorrell hire. To go from Sark, a pretty bold/well-known candidate with plenty of baggage, to Dorell is not easily explained away by the CU dysfunction. We didn't even get the benefit of CU going cheap with Dorrell.
I've been trying so hard to understand the hire.
In context, we had RG firing MacIntyre for being a coach who would be stable and mediocre with the occasional good season.
He wanted someone who would build a champion at CU.
OK.
So he was looking at Ryan Day, who ended up getting promoted at Ohio State when Urban unexpectedly left. He was also looking at Mel Tucker, who we were able to hire. Definitely a blueprint there of looking for someone from a championship program to bring that culture to CU.
Then, when Dantonio was unexpectedly gone from Michigan State after signing day, we lost Tucker. RG immediately turned to the same blueprint, had some long talks with Bieniemy, and ultimately tried to hire Sarkisian from Alabama.
That fell through and he turned to Karl Dorrell.
How the fvck does that happen? What changed? These are the questions that have been driving us all crazy for 3 years.
My theory is that there were some recruiting practices under MT that RG was taking heat over and forced him to roll back some of the aggressiveness. Particularly since he'd lost MT at least in part over not being able to fulfill promises made to him on admissions and general administrative support.
Then, he heard this stuff reinforced by EB and Sark over what they would expect in order to feel like they could win at CU and knew he could not deliver.
Beyond that, he was constrained on budget and the long-term contracts he had in place. He was having to tell HC candidates that he'd have to go through at least his first year with Summers as DC and Chieverini as OC. Not a lot of guys are going to leave good situations to become the CU HC under that set of circumstances.
So, RG went with a stability approach. He definitely wanted someone who would stick at CU for years. It was something he valued with the MT hire and was naive enough to get blindsided there. It was going to be the 3rd HC in 3 years at a program that had seen the most HC turnover in the conference since we joined. At the end of the day, I think this was jumping in with both feet on stability and picking a guy who would be supported by the Bill Mac loyalist boosters. I'd also guess that KD being African-American was a bonus if he was committing to stability since it was a definite negative mark that CU had recently had 2 black HCs who lasted a combined 3 years and that was a narrative that needed to be removed. Finally, I think someone who knew CU and was willing to accept the reality of the situation that RG had lost the fight over plus would be willing to accept a staff being forced upon him, was the clincher. "All in" from RG meant giving KD a contract that forced stability for a minimum of 3 years (complete dumpster fire) and probably 4 or 5 if things didn't completely tank.