Hawkins’ final goodbye

Dan Hawkins suffers his last loss as a Buff: The loss of his job.

In his final press conference Tuesday, Hawkins had nothing but praise and best wishes for both his team and the Boulder community as a whole.

“I know people got tired of me talking about what great kids we have, but we really do,” Hawkins said. “They deserve to win, because they are winners and they deserve that feeling.”

Hawkins’ firing came on the heels of a loss to Kansas in which the Buffs allowed 35 points in the fourth quarter. It was the Buffs’ fifth straight loss this season, and left Hawkins with 19-39 record overall.

Both Hawkins and CU Athletic Director Mike Bohn said the move will end some of the negativity that has followed the program recently.

“There’s just way too much negativity around the program, and I respect Mike [Bohn] and his decision,” Hawkins said. “Buffnation is too proud and too quality to have any one issue bog it down, and certainly the players don’t deserve that.”

Hawkins did not take question during his time at the podium, but did reiterate the fact that Colorado fans need to rally behind the team in the home stretch of the season.

“I really hope [the fans] will surround these guys and support them,” Hawkins said. “There’s no greater group of guys to cheer for.”

Linebackers coach Brian Cabral will take Hawkins’ place for the remainder of the season. This will be his second tenure as interim coach, with his first stint coming in 2005 after Gary Barnett was suspended.

An emotional Cabral stated his place firmly.

“My role without a doubt is a stand in the gap,”Cabral said. “My role is to calm the storm.”

Cabral is the longest tenured assistant coach in the program. He spent nine years in the NFL before joining CU as a graduate assistant in 1989, and was promoted to linebackers coach the following year by Bill McCartney.

When asked if he would like to be considered for the permanent role as head coach, Cabral had a simple answer.

“Yes sir,” Cabral said.

Many of the players put blame on themselves for the current state of the program

“No matter how many times [Hawkins] says for us not to take it as our fault there is a sense of responsibility on everyone,” said senior receiver Scotty McKnight. “There has to be a change made collectively.”

The player who may be most affected by the change is senior Cody Hawkins, who is starting at quarterback in place of the injured junior quarterback Tyler Hansen. Rumors have cropped up saying that he would walk away from the team if his father was fired.

The younger Hawkins was quick to dismiss any notion of leaving.

“[The rumors] couldn’t be further from the truth,” Hawkins said. “Regardless of who the football coach is and whether this would have happen last year or this year, first game of the season or last game of the season, I’m going to give everything I have to this football team.”

The Buffs will have to put the distractions on hold, and prepare for Saturday’s game against Iowa State, as well as games against Kansas State and Nebraska to close out the season.

Although it may be a tough task, the players are determined to finish strong.

“These three games are winnable,” said senior linebacker B.J. Beatty. “We have to finish out for [Dan Hawkins], the players on the team, and the coaches.”

Contact Staff Writer Mark McNeillie at [email protected].