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The University of Colorado made a decision on Sunday night that surprisingly has received more press in the last two days than the Buffaloes have seen all season. The firing of Jon Embree has been at the center of the radio scene in Colorado and there has been a level of passion not seen all year. There’s many opinions on the matter, and while each is validated and backed by strong arguments, the fact remains the Buffs need to move forward with a plan that compiles wins.
With all the rumors and people claiming they have the inside information on what is going on in Boulder, there was only one clear direction to take this piece. I asked Dan Mohrmann, Writer for Mile High Sports Magazine, some questions that I couldn’t find an honest answer to anywhere else. When asked the question that seems to go 50/50 on the answer, Dan was very clear and didn’t hesitate.
“It was fair,” Dan said on the firing of Jon Embree. “CU beat Kansas State and Georgia in Dan Hawkins‘ last year. Both those teams have competed for a national championship this year and Colorado has got worse. It was a move that needs to be made to sooner rather later.”
I made the suggestion myself that Embree didn’t have enough time, he wasn’t left with much talent after Dan Hawkins was fired and two years is just not enough time to turn a program around like Colorado that needs to be rescued from the depths of the abyss. Buffs fans have made it clear that none of that matters because what they saw was a coaching staff that was in well over their head. All they wanted to see was an improvement.
“You look at Embree, no coordinator experience, Bienemy, no coordinator experience, Greg Brown had experience at a school where the head coach was defensive minded,” Dan told me “Embree surrounded himself with inexperience that happened to be his buddies, people needed to be hold accountable.”
Defensive coordinator Greg Brown took over as co-defensive coordinator with Tim Kish for the Arizona Wildcats after Mark Stoops, the defensive mind himself, left. Brown’s defense was among the worst in the nation this season with the worst scoring defense nationally. Yes, accountability is necessary when a team performs this poorly, the last thing you want from your team is to exercise complacency, but would it have been crazy to rid the program of Embree’s staff and allow him to try one more year?
Embree said he intended on working throughout the off-season to implement a spread offense. he was willing to change to help his team succeed, but too much pressure from the outside forced Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn to make a change hastily. Bohn will now have the task of bringing in a new man to take control of his football program, but now Bohn is under pressure. If the new coaching hire doesn’t pan out, and quickly based off the two years Embree had, Bohn may be looking for work.
Dan was able to speak with Bohn not long after the Embree firing and despite how many may think Bohn was not feeling the effects personally, he seemed to be taking his decision to heart.
“The feeling I got is no one is taking it harder than him,” Dan told me.”The overall big picture is Bohn has done a great job outside of football. With the Pac-12 money, he can double maybe even triple Embree’s salary.”
The next decision Bohn makes could be his last as athletic director at Colorado, however, it might not be all doom and gloom. The Buffs are in a better money situation now than they were after Hawkins was fired. Bohn has to get this next coaching hire perfect, but the question is; how long will the next coach have? Next season the roster will be mostly Embree’s guys and a new coach will most likely want a new system and will need time to establish his own system and brand.
Do fans have the patience? It has now been seven straight losing seasons, but the right coach with the right system can change that.
Follow Zach on Twitter https://twitter.com/ZacheryPugh
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