Recruiting remedy, turnaround, Hawkins lifeline

The Black and Gold Breakdown was able to get some clock from Andrew Friedman of the BuffaloSportsNews.net this week and talk about all things CU.

Discussed was recruiting, a potential turnaround for next season, what needs to happen to make that a reality and how long the rope is for coach Dan Hawkins.

BGB: Hi Andrew. Let's start of with your on-the-spot analysis, at first glance, of the current CU recruiting class? Are talent and positional needs being met?

Friedman: Not yet. It is doing very well in the offensive line, which was a need. The defensive line hasn't been met yet. They have two players committed but they are looking to get four more defensive line players. The main need, right now, is wide receiver. They have not met their needs there at all. They didn't get anybody last year. This year, they need three. It is obvious they need playmakers.

BGB: Why has CU not been able to get anyone to verbal at wide receiver yet?

Friedman: They could go around the country right now and probably get a couple of guys like the guys that are there now but they are at the point now where they need to go get impact players. They need someone who can come in right now and play. Coach Hawkins and coach Kiesau and coach Helfrich are trying to sell wide receiver recruits on what they've done in the past at Boise State, California and Arizona State. Trying to sell them on things that they are not doing right now.

BGB: On a plus note, how has Dan Hawkins and his staff been able to go all over to score verbals, places not necessarily known as CU recruiting hot spots, like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Florida?

Friedman: They've taken a national approach. Coach Hawkins thinks Colorado can recruit nationally and they haven't been afraid to go places they haven't been going before.

BGB: Andrew, we've seen Hawkins in the media and it seems like he has some of that folksy charm like a Bobby Bowden or a Mack Brown; he's just a strong communicatior. How has that played a role in him being able to secure verbals?

Friedman: He's a great salesman. If you have ever spoken to the guy, he is very motivational and he can get you fired up and that's what you need in recruiting. He's shown recruits his past record of where he's been and said, 'look, I've made it on every level and we're going to make it here, and I want you to be a part of it. You can come in here and play immediately or if you can't play immediately, you're going to play in the first couple of years.'

We've seen that this year, too, as he's put guys on the field that are walk-ons, not the most talented guys but he's told them straight up, you do what we ask you to do, you're going to see the field. Recruits are accepting that.

BGB: CU has been piling up verbals, but as losses continue to mount, is CU going to be able to hold most or all those verbals through signing day?

Friedman: All the recruits I've spoken with have been solid up to this point. The only exception is Adam Tello, an offensive lineman from California. Even if they lost him, they have plenty of bodies there. There is not one person in this class that I've spoken with that is wavering. Recruits are looking at it like you need talent. Most of these guys signed on when (CU) was 0-5 or 0-6 so it's not like they didn't know what they were getting into in the first place.

BGB: The Buffs' program -- how much of a turnaround could we expect in the won-loss record next season? How much of the current state of affairs is talent, or youth or the new staff?

Friedman: Depends on if they can get some more (junior college) players in here, depends if this (JC) quarterback Nick Nelson can come in in the spring and put himself in the forefront, or depends if Bernard Jackson learns how to become more accurate, so a lot depends on the quarterback position.

It also depends on if they can get some JC lineman to come in here, and they really need a JC wide receiver. What I'm trying to say is they need some immediate help, either from the JC ranks or they need it from impact true freshman or impact redshirt freshman. Coach Hawkins wants players to fit into his system instead of changing the system to fit the players.

If they don't get that influx of talent I'm not sure you're going to see a huge difference next year in wins and losses. I'm thinking the third year, if Hawkins and his staff are still losing, I don't see them keeping him, just because the athletic department can't afford it, with season ticket (sales) being as low as they've ever been. If by the third season, they are not winning ball games, they are not going to be able to afford to be able to keep him, they'll have to make a switch, but I think he has a couple more years and I think he'll make it.

This recruiting class they are putting together is the best class since 2002, and doing it off a 1-9 season -- winning programs are not doing as well as Colorado right now -- so I feel he's going to turn it around.

BGB: Is this staff a Big-12 fraud, because you hear some of that, or do you believe they are capable of building a winner and maybe even a champion?

Friedman: I talked to a lot of coaches around the nation and a lot of them were pretty surprised (Hawkins) would bring in a pretty inexperienced staff. The way Hawkins sees it, he has done it on every level and he feels his system has worked at every level so why shouldn't it work in the Big 12. He's never lost like this, never really had his butt handed to him, so maybe this humility was good for him.

I really think next year, if there is another losing season, maybe you see something in possible coaching changes.

BGB: Nearly all season, we've heard coach and player accountability, which I admire, yet 10 games into the season, the same reasons for defeat are being voiced and the team, in one man's opinion, seems to accept it all too easily. How can these mistakes still be happening?

Friedman: That's a very good question and I don't know if there is an answer to it.

The change in attitude and mentality are going to have to happen and the younger players will have to take on a lot more than the upper classman who are about to go out the door. It's going to have to happen over time.

BGB: I don't think anyone expected or forecasted 1-9 this season, and it could be much worse in a few weeks, but what happened? The new quarterback, the staff? How did it get to this point?

Friedman: I talked to a lot of longtime donors, and most of them were predicting a losing season, however none of them had predicted anything like this. There is a guy who posts on my message board, and he's been going to practices for about 20 years, and he said this is the worst group of skill position talent he's ever seen at Colorado, the worst wide receivers he's ever seen at the national level and he predicted 3-9.

I've talked to others and the best some longtime donors were predicting was 5-7. So I do believe a lot of people saw that the talent was so devoid they expected a losing season but no one could have predicted a 1-9 season.

BGB: So what does CU hang it's hat on over the final two games of the season?

Friedman: The goal right now is not to worry about what is going on on the field, it's to worry about those recruits in the stands. I've talked to a few kids that have said 'I know I can go in there and play, no doubt in my mind, I'll probably start the moment I step on campus.'

It would be nice to end it on a good note but I don't think anyone cares about what is going on on the field anymore and I think most upperclassman gave up on it a few weeks ago. Right now, it's all about recruiting.

BGB: Can CU sway those players who are being looked at by the national powerhouses, selling immediate playing time hard or is that kind of player going to be too proud, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his family and friends, signing with a team that has been miserable this season? Will they likely go to the top-10 school and sit instead?

Friedman: Most blue chips believe they can play, no matter what. If they go to Colorado and they stink, they think 'why the hell would I want to play here when I can go to Miami or Michigan and play as a freshman or by my sophomore year.'

What they need to do is target the kids who says I'm not going to Miami or Michigan, even if I can, I'm going to go to Colorado because I know I can play my first or second year and I like these coaches and I believe in what they are saying.

As soon as you have a coach who can actually sell, like Hawkins, and they start winning -- you look at what he's doing during a 1-9 season, I can't imagine what him and his staff would do during a winning season, or a 9-1 season.

BGB: What's the reason to check in with Andrew Friedman and the BuffaloSportsNews.net?

Friedman: It's the no. 1 site on the internet for recruiting scoop and team scoop, we have a magazine, we cover the team on a daily basis, we have message boards, a Sunday-night chat, sometimes we have guests or former players in there.