Hawkins leadership lacking

It would be easy to overreact and call for coach Dan Hawkins' head after an 0-2 start in 2009 and getting embarrassed by Toledo in every way Friday night. There are certainly good things that happened in the loss to the Rockets to be optimistic about but the reality is Hawkins is not going to make it as CU coach. The clock is ticking now on his demise.

Giving up horrendous amounts of points and yardage and to a non-power school, completing just about 50 percent of its' own passes, being shredded with ease is not progress, and neither was the loss to CSU a week prior.

CU has no excuse anymore. There is experience, there is more talent. There isn't, however, adequate leadership, coaching or development.

Hawkins might be forced out in Boulder by the end of 2009. He won't resign. Making it to 2010 is a possibility but would likely require a shocking turnaround. Anything less than a winning record is a major disappointment. Lose, say, seven games and the deed is done -- fired.

Wishing Hawkins a miraculous recovery on the field but not counting on it.

The next hire has to be the right one as the Buffs' program appears to be a sinking ship. Irrelevant.

Now on to Andy Staples of CNNSI.com and his viewpoint, which is as scathing or honest as any you'll read here.

Hawkins still an unknown

Cody Hawkins is smart. He breathes football. He cares about winning. He works hard. He's easy to like. We get it. So does this reporter. The issue for CU is does Hawkins have enough talent around him to help the quarterback drive this offense and does Hawkins have enough physical skills, as in mobility and arm strength, to get detractors off his back?

Those are questions that to this today are still unanswered. The good news is that sometime this season fans (see: fanatics) and followers both gain a better understanding on whether Commander Cody is top shelf quality or a dime-store knockoff.

The book here says that Hawkins can be loved by many if the talent around him is better and with the backs (Darrell Scott, Rodney Stewart) and offensive line the Buffs have, there is hope. The question is can the tight ends (Ryan Deehan) and wideouts (Markques Simas, Andre Simmons especially) step up and become campus heroes.