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This spud's for CU[/SIZE]
With Dan Hawkins, what you see is nowhere close to what you get.
Here's what you see: a cherub in a headset, a boyish-looking 45-year-old who stands about 6 feet, weighs close to 200 pounds and still might pass for a college fullback (depending on the college).
Here's what you get: an intensely competitive head coach whose loyalty to his staff might be unparalleled, whose Saturday mantra often is "keep playing," regardless of how far his team is ahead, whose office bookshelves are lined with literary works ranging from Mother Teresa: In My Own Words to The Way of Life, by Lao Tzu, to his favorite, Phil Jackson's Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior.
A source close to the University of Colorado said Hawkins and the school reached an agreement Wednesday that will make him the Buffaloes' 23rd head football coach. The official announcement of the hiring of the coach, who is leaving Boise State, is expected Friday afternoon.
When Hawkins officially arrives at CU, Boulder might embrace him as a prodigal son returned - without him having yet lived there.
By all accounts, CU is getting far more than a student of the game. Hawkins, a 1984 graduate of UC Davis, is "a real visionary. He sees the big picture, and he keeps it in front of him, his staff and his players," said Mark Speckman, the football coach at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., where Hawkins' assistants included Speckman.
"He doesn't go for your stereotypical rah-rah stuff," Speckman said. "He hits it at a little deeper level, and that seems to hit the target with his kids. He's a unique coach, a unique guy. He sees football as a great educational tool, and he gets a lot out of that part of it."
Hawkins, who will coach Boise State in its MPC Computer Bowl game against Boston College on Dec. 28, is huge on motivational quotes from a variety of sources, and they are as much a part of him as his profession. Among them:
• "The ultimate freedom in life is to determine one's attitude in a given set of circumstances." - Viktor E. Frankl, concentration camp survivor.
• "Leadership is the art of making something happen that the science of management says is impossible." - Anonymous.
• "While you're celebrating success, someone else is laying plans to move up in the world, and you better know it." - Pat Riley, NBA coach.
• "There are two kinds of class - first and no." - Anonymous.
Hot commodity
Hawkins is no stranger to being pursued. His 53-10 (five seasons) record at Boise State, an offense that punches up points with video-game speed and a philosophical bent usually not found in guys who scribble X's and O's for a living have made Hawkins a hot property among Bowl Championship Series schools with head-coaching vacancies.
Oregon State made a serious run at him two seasons ago, but he withdrew his name from consideration, citing an improper fit in Corvallis, Ore., which he indicated to The (Boise) Idaho Statesman was hampered by the absence of an airport nearby and an economy reflective of a statewide decline.
He also has been targeted by Washington, Stanford, Utah, Notre Dame and two Big 12 Conference schools, Baylor and Kansas State. In Washington's search, Hawkins reportedly made an issue of taking his entire Boise State staff with him to Seattle.
The position he apparently wanted badly was Notre Dame's, which went to Charlie Weis.
Had the opportunity presented itself to jump to any of those schools, it would have meant a step up to a BCS program, a larger paycheck (he's making about $525,000) and the challenge of competing at a level purportedly higher than the Western Athletic Conference.
None of those factors apparently appeared on Hawkins' radar, which is not common for a football coach.
"It's not about bigger and better, although everybody gets hung up on that - and that perplexes me from the standpoint of maybe that drives everybody's ambitions so hard they just cannot believe that that wouldn't be your motivation," he said after backing out of contention for the Oregon State opening.
A perfect fit?
According to those who have spent time with him, Hawkins has talked up the Boulder area because of its size, its being conducive to family life (he has four children ranging in age from 15 to 21) and its location, the Rocky Mountain West, a region he apparently favors.
Plus, said Colorado State women's basketball coach Jen Warden, who coached at Boise State before returning to her home state, "Boise is so much like Boulder - but without a Denver (nearby)."
Warden's interaction with Hawkins during her three seasons in Boise was limited, but she witnessed enough to characterize him as "very much a family guy, and that extended to his football family.
"He believes in that side of coaching, and what he was able to do in football, with its national exposure, did so much for the rest of the athletic department."
Hawkins' affinity for family - his, and his players and staff - made a lasting impression on former Boise State tight end Jeb Putzier, now with the Denver Broncos.
Putzier called Hawkins "one of the best guys I know (and) the best coach I ever had . . . He's one of those types of guys that puts a lot of responsibility on you just to be a good person. He helped me mature as a person, and he'll make you think."
To that end, Hawkins went to his bookshelf during Putzier's season and removed The Art of War for his tight end.
"That's just the kind of guy he is," Putzier said. "That's the type of environment he creates for everyone. He wants you to learn, he wants to think about things. He wants you to be better prepared for every aspect of life."
The cerebral type
Hawkins might specialize in emphasizing the mind over the material.
In a question-and-answer session with The Statesman, he was asked what he might do with $5 million. After twice answering he didn't think about it, he said, "I've made so little in my life (and) I've been doing this for 20 years.
"I bet you the average balance in my savings account the past 20 years has been $50. Never made any investments. Never made any dent in retirement until I got to Willamette (in 1993). I don't have any stocks. I don't have any land. I don't have any property. I don't have a vacation home . . .
"That's not what drives my boat. It's funny; even when you meet with a financial planner, they ask you when you want to retire. I go, 'I don't really want to retire.' I am very non-materialistic. I mean, I don't wear Gucci. As long as my car starts and I can get where I need to go. . . . I'm a person who's got my feelers out on life."
Hawkins rarely reads fiction, preferring autobiographies and philosophical literature. His fundamental philosophy might be found in a favorite statement, one of unknown origins, but one that he latched onto: "Success is the ability to control the quality and balance of your life."
Speckman said Hawkins has the ability to "make the grind a little bit more enjoyable. People truly enjoy being 'round him and working with him. . . . He does a great job of keeping the goal in sight and in front of everybody."
Under Hawkins and offensive coordinator Chris Petersen, who has fielded as many job inquiries as his boss, Boise State featured one of college football's most prolific attacks. The Broncos offense might most resemble Louisville's, featuring an H-back and tight end, but there are elements of Florida coach Urban Meyer's spread offense and possibly a trace or two of a West Coast look.
But the notion that Boise State presented a Texas Tech-style air barrage is false. This season, Boise State was the picture of balance, averaging 215.8 yards rushing (35 touchdowns) and 214.6 passing (19 touchdowns) and 37.3 points a game. The Broncos ranked No. 23 nationally in total offense and No. 8 in scoring offense.
Defensively, Hawkins' 2005 team ranked No. 55 in total defense (368.5 yards a game) and No. 52 in scoring defense (24.2 points).
'North champions right now'
Given time to recruit to his system, Putzier said, there's no doubt a Hawkins-coached CU team will be as competitive in the Big 12 as Boise State is in the WAC.
"Boise State would destroy Iowa State, would beat Kansas, would beat all those teams in the North," said Putzier, whose April marriage was attended by Hawkins. "They would be the North champions right now; they would've played Texas (in the league championship game, which CU lost 70-3).
"I don't know what type of underclassmen they have (at CU), I don't know who's leaving or what, I don't follow CU that much. (But) as soon as he gets his guys in there, it definitely will be one of the high-scoring colleges in the NCAA."
Observers in Boise believe Hawkins can recruit players who can play in any conference. In comprising a racially diverse roster, Hawkins heavily recruited California, traditionally a fertile area for CU, as well as Oregon, Washington, Arizona and, of course, Idaho. He also developed a fairly productive pipeline for Canadian talent.
At Willamette, where Hawkins coached from 1993 to 1997 and compiled a 40-11-1 record, Speckman said Hawkins "did a great job with a program that was down in wins, numbers (of players) and funding. He turned it around."
Like Putzier, Speckman has no doubt Hawkins can make a successful transition from the WAC to the Big 12, as he did from an NAIA school (Willamette) to Division I-A.
"He's won with both kinds of kids - those at the lower and upper levels," Speckman said. "That's not an issue. This is not rocket science, it's football, and it's what he excels at. He'll get it done."
Hawkins' deal
Expected terms of Dan Hawkins' contract as Colorado's 23rd head football coach:
• Length: Five years.
• Annual salary: $1 million (approximately), including radio/TV package, Nike pay, etc.
• Probable incentives: Based on winning the Big 12 Conference North, winning the conference, appearing in a Bowl Championship Series game, winning a national title, top-10 national finish, players' graduation, etc.
• Boise State buyout: $700,000.
Hawkins' head coaching résumé
Year School Overall Conf. Postseason
1993 Willamette 5-4-0 3-2-0 None
1994 Willamette 7-2-0 4-1-0 None
1995 Willamette 6-2-1 4-0-1 None
1996 Willamette 9-2-0 5-0-0 NAIA quarterfinals
1997 Willamette 13-1-0 5-0-0 NAIA runner-up
Totals 40-11-1 21-3-1
2001 Boise State 8-4-0 6-2-0 None
2002 Boise State 12-1-0 8-0-0 Beat Iowa State 34-16 in Humanitarian Bowl
2003 Boise State 13-1-0 8-0-0 Beat TCU 34-31 in Capital Fort Worth Bowl
2004 Boise State 11-1-0 8-0-0 Lost to Louisville in Liberty Bowl 44-40
2005 Boise State 9-3-0 6-2-0 MPC Computers Bowl vs. Boston College on Dec. 28
Totals 53-10-0 36-4-0
Career 93-21-1 57-7-1
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