Turbulent offseason trying for Buffaloes

By David Mitchell     Jul 23, 2004

? Gary Barnett is willing to talk about the sex allegations that brought unwanted national attention to the University of Colorado football program last winter.

Just don’t use the “S” word.

“I’d like to officially not acknowledge the word ‘scandal,'” Barnett told reporters Thursday at Big 12 Conference media days. “And I would not like to have that word dealt with in here.”

Barnett hasn’t come up with a better term for the events that rocked Boulder, Colo., and led to a suspension from Feb. 18 to May 28 that forced him to miss spring practice.

“Give me some time to think about that,” he said. “I refuse to acknowledge it as a proper word to describe it.”

Three women filed federal civil lawsuits against CU, and at least nine have alleged they were sexually assaulted by football players or recruits since 1997. Barnett was suspended after making disparaging comments about two of the alleged victims, including former Buffs kicker Katie Hnida, who claimed she was raped by a teammate.

“I took every day as a chance to learn something,” Barnett said of his time away from the team. “What I learned for myself is how important friends are, how important encouragement from your peers is, how important e-mail is.”

Barnett said he received support from “almost every coach in this conference” and “75 to 80 percent of my peers in Division One” as well as many coaches at smaller schools.

He never considered quitting.

“That’s not in my nature,” said Barnett, who is 77-88 in 14 years as a head coach, including 34-28 at CU.

Colorado players, meanwhile, received hate mail and deaths threats on their own campus during the ordeal.

“I took no notice of it,” running back Bobby Purify said. “I have tunnel vision when it comes to things like that. I don’t spend time on campus if I don’t have to.”

The scandal, for lack of a different word, might not be over yet. While no sexual-assault charges have been filed yet, a state grand jury is investigating the alleged attacks in addition to claims that a former CU aide hired prostitutes for recruits.

Season-ticket sales have sagged during the offseason.

The Buffs think their arduous winter and spring will make them better this fall.

“For a while, it felt like it was us against the world,” Purify said. “We didn’t know who was for us or against us, who was friend or foe. It made us a closer unit.”

  • Retro coach: Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz is back in Colorado, where he and Barnett were assistant coaches under Bill McCartney in the 1980s and ’90s. Hankwitz, who later was defensive coordinator at Kansas University, Texas A&M and Arizona, faces a big challenge in his second stint at CU. The Buffs allowed an average of 33.2 points per game last season.

“Mike Hankwitz has been dealt some bad cards,” Barnett said.

  • Huskers adapting: After decades of national prominence as a running offense, Nebraska will try to reload with a more wide-open attack under first-year coach Bill Callahan.

“We had 60,000 people at our spring game,” tight end Matt Herian said. “They were all questioning what we were going to do because they had not seen an offense like this. Even when I’m walking around with my best friends and family, everyone is asking me, ‘What are you guys going to do? What has changed?’ I think a lot of people at Nebraska are real curious. I think at first they had a hard time adjusting because we are traditionally a running football team. We won running the football. We didn’t have to pass it that much. I think the more they learned about it, saw it at the spring game and talked about it, I think people at Nebraska are starting to like it.”

Nebraska fans aren’t easy to please. Coach Frank Solich, a former Husker player and longtime assistant, was canned after a nine-win season.

“They are impatient fans, but that’s a good thing,” NU linebacker Barrett Ruud said. “It helps you become a better player.”

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