For context, consider this: the Colorado Buffaloes football program claims a national championship – 1990, a shared crown with Georgia Tech – more recently than college royalty Notre Dame, which last marked its spot atop the sport in 1988.
Colorado thwarted, among others, Notre Dame, Oregon and Washington during the program’s six-game bowl winning streak through the mid-1990s.
This century, however, the Buffaloes have made just seven bowl appearances, and the school’s move to the PAC-12 has largely resulted in naturally nomadic existence in the league.
Until now. It’s hard to argue any PAC-12 program is in worse shape than that of Colorado – even with Arizona State having made the first move to fire Herm Edwards last month and also facing the specter of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
FootballScoop talked to double-digit coaches, administrators and industry representatives in the past week, as change seemed imminent, to gauge what Colorado needs to fix its football program.
Or, who the Buffaloes need.
Two names populate those conversations more than any other: Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Calhoun merely has generated 11 bowl berths for the Falcons in his 15 full seasons at the helm of his alma mater, and the Oregon native has nine seasons of eight or more wins since he took over the Academy.
“It’s a tough job with location,” said a veteran college coach with experience at all levels. “Troy has recruiting relationships because Air Force is nationwide.”
“Bieniemy is an obvious choice, but nobody knows if he wants to coach at college or if he’s holding out for an NFL head job,” an agent said.
So who or what does Colorado need?
“Colorado needs someone who brings a winning pedigree/culture,” said a prominent West Coast agent. “It needs someone with great recruiting prowess. In today’s college football, an offensive mind is most attractive.”
Offense is again seizing the day in the sport, though last year’s cycle largely is remembered for the volume of defensive minds ascending to head coaching jobs.
Could Colorado land an energetic young offensive assistant, such as Miami’s Josh Gattis, Arkansas’s Kendal Briles or Oklahoma’s Jeff Lebby?
Might the Buffaloes again dip into the NFL ranks and look for a rising commodity such as Thomas Brown? A former Georgia standout, Brown has helped the Los Angeles Rams to an Super Bowl crown while also collecting coaching experience in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Southeastern Conference?
Plus, Brown also has garnered acclaim for his ability to recruit – and perhaps nothing is more critical for a quick resurgence of Buffaloes football.
“When they’re competitive, I see their coaches in Texas, California and all over that area,” a college assistant said.
Still, when asked by FootballScoop what Colorado football needed for its program to get on track, a prominent agent with more than 20 college coaches did not mince words.
“They (Colorado) need new leadership,” he said.
There is good high school football in Colorado, and there is, with the right coach, a broad recruiting base. Bieniemy, mind you, is a Louisiana native, and plenty of Buffaloes stars through the years trace from the West Coast across the Rocky Mountains.
Regardless, Colorado now is the fourth Power-5 job to pop open inside the opening fortnight of college football’s 2022 season. The ACC (Georgia Tech), Big Ten (Nebraska) and PAC-12 (Arizona State, Colorado) all have openings.
There will be more vacancies; industry experts expect at least one opening in the SEC, more in the ACC and some of the more attractive Group of Five jobs to unwind.
How Colorado handles this opening dictates both the Buffaloes’ path right now and in college football’s ever-evolving horizon.