Maybe firing Hawkins is the way to go, maybe not. However, if we do, indeed, fire him, finding a successful replacement will be a crapshoot.
First, the salary we pay our head guy and the assistants is middle to bottom of the conference. And Boulder probably has the highest cost of living in the conference. If we want a big time guy, we'll have to pay big time salary. With two buyouts on the ledger, I don't see that happening.
Second, whether you people want to aknowledge it or not, CU has tougher academic issues for a recruiter to deal with than any school in the Conference with Baylor maybe being an exception. We have almost a closed window on academic exceptions.
Third, the competition for recruits in Texas and California, historically our hot beds, has really gotten stiff. We have a much more difficult time recruiting those places. CU has to recruit on a national basis, unlike the Texas schools and OU.
If CU wants to be a contender in athletics, the CU administration needs to take a long, hard look at how they want to do business. Do we want a mediocre athletic program with high academic standards, or are we willing to bring in more at risk kids who will upgrade our athletic programs? Of course, the hope there would be that you can help them succeed in academics as well.
With all those factors, we are not going to attract a nationally prominent coach. We will have to do what we did with Bill and bring in an up and coming coordinator who is hungry to get a shot at the big time. And that, my friends, is a crap shoot every bit as much as keeping Hawkins is a crap shoot.