Hawkins' contract contains a clause limiting the school's liability to $850,000 per contract year if it should terminate him without cause. Hawkins would have more than three years remaining if he was fired at any point this season. His contract runs through Jan. 31, 2013.The school's total liability could approach $3 million under the terms of the deal if any partial year was prorated in a buyout. If the buyout was limited to three years, it would cost CU no more than $2,550,000.
The Buffs started this season 0-2 with losses to Colorado State and Toledo, two games many believed would be wins on the Colorado ledger when the season started.
Hawkins presumably thought the same thing when he repeatedly said before the season started that his team was capable of 10 wins.
If CU athletic director Mike Bohn and Chancellor Phil DiStefano decided a change needed to be made, Hawkins would have the option of filing a claim for damages not to exceed the $850,000 per contract year.
The athletic department remains in deeply in debt with the majority of an $8 million loan from the campus and the CU system in 2006 still to be paid off. Part of that debt was caused by the last coaching change when Bohn fired Gary Barnett at the end of the 2005 season and hired Hawkins.
CU was heavily criticized for having to pay Barnett approximately $4 million when it fired him. The terms of Barnett's contract, negotiated by former athletic director Dick Tharp, required the settlement, and that led to CU trying to limit its obligations in Hawkins' contract.
The department would have to borrow money to buyout Hawkins and it would be hard-pressed to do so in the current economic climate in which state funding is being significantly trimmed and some CU employees have already lost their jobs.
Paying a coach millions of dollars not to coach might be hard to justify, maybe even more so than living with the results he is producing on the field.
The sour start this season is already having repercussions in recruiting.
Zack Craig, a cornerback prospect from Texas had committed to Colorado before the season opener, but he chose to change his commitment to Oklahoma State when the Cowboys offered him on opening weekend.
Littleton High School running back Mister Jones committed to CU in June, but he said Saturday he has decided to make official visits to other programs because he is concerned about the state of things in Boulder.
"I mean, it's obvious," Jones said when asked why he has decided to schedule visits. "They lost to like Toledo and Colorado State the last couple weeks. The CU program isn't doing too good right now."
Source: DailyCamera
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