Colorado dismisses Karl Dorrell and a coordinator

Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell and defensive coordinator Chris Wilson have both been let go, the school has announced.

Pete Thamel was the initial person to report the changes.

The Buffs lost 43-20 to Arizona yesterday, dropping them to 0-5 on the year.

Through their first five games of the year, Colorado was giving up more than 43 points per game, which ranked 129th out of 131 teams, ahead of only Hawaii (45.4 ppg) and Charlotte (46.3 ppg).

Dorrell was tabbed as the replacement for Mel Tucker, who left for Michigan State after one year in late February of 2020. He spent the 2019 season as the assistant head coach and receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins, and prior to that was with the Jets working with their receivers.

Dorrell went 4-2 in his first season in Boulder, winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. That was followed by a 4-8 campaign last fall.

Overall, he's 8-15 and 6-9 in Pac-12 play. The timeline of taking the job in late February, where a lot of quality assistants have already landed somewhere in the year's coaching cycle, followed by the COVID-impacted 2020 season made Dorrell's tenure a significant uphill battle.

His contract calls for buyout of $8.7 million, if fired without cause.

He previously served as the head coach at UCLA from 2003-07, where he compiled a 35-27 overall record, including a 24-18 mark in league play.

Mike Sanford, who is in his first year as CU's offensive coordinator, has been named interim head coach. Tight ends coach Clay Patterson will step into the offensive coordinator role while defensive line coach Gerald Chatman will serve as the team's interim defensive coordinator for the rest of the season.

The move marks the fifth head coaching change of the season, and the fourth in-season change along with Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Arizona State. 

Track all the head coaching movement around college football via this page.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.