Yet, he's still employed, while 10 percent of everyone else is out of work. Ain't that America.
Michael Roberts explained why that is last week, but the short answer is the same as the short answer to most questions of this sort: money. Hawkins is owed a lot of it, and CU doesn't want to shell it out (and can't find any pockets deep enough to dip into).
Sure, three million is a lot of coin to pay a guy to go away, especially when you're going to have to come up with even more cash to pay someone new to take over. But why did they give him the extension in the first place? At the time athletic director Mike Bohn extended Hawkins' contract last fall, the coach had produced nothing more than a big, heaping pile of mediocrity, leading the Buffs to 11 wins in his first 30 games. What was it about a .330 winning percentage that made Bohn say, "We better guarantee this guy more money before he gets swooped up by Sacramento State"?
So, yeah: That was not very smart. Nor was the university's inability to drum up the $3 million to make Hawkins go away. So for that, Mr. Bohn, you are our Shmuck of the Week.
Meet more shmucks in our Shmuck of the Week archive.
