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• Video: CU's Dan Hawkins at Big 12 media days:
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DALLAS — Scotty McKnight is 22 and a senior sociology major at Colorado who plays football, likes to go to the beach and snowboards.
It's enough for him to handle, and same goes for his teammates, without adding the responsibility of playing to save his coach's job.
“I've been asked that, and I just don't think that that amount of pressure for a college kid is ever realistic,” said McKnight, a receiver. “You're 19, 20 years old and going out there, ‘I've got to play for this guy's job and his family.' That's just not reasonable.
“That's never gone through my mind, and I don't think it's gone through anyone else's mind on our team, either.”
It is part of the conversation, though, considering the fragility of Dan Hawkins' situation at Colorado.
The Buffaloes are 16-33 in his four seasons as coach. Many thought there wouldn't be a fifth year for him in Boulder as Colorado was headed for its 3-9 finish in 2009.
But cornerback Jalil Brown agreed with McKnight on Wednesday that the best way to go forward is for the players to do their job and for Hawkins to do his.
“What happens with him is going to happen,” Brown said. “All we can do is worry about doing our part, which is playing on the field and winning games and making sure we're prepared every game.”
Colorado is poised to go from the Big 12 to the Pac-10, and it has yet to be decided if Hawkins will go along for the ride.
Plenty will depend on the 2010 season that starts Sept. 4 against Colorado State in Denver.
Does Hawkins believe that he has to win a certain number of games to keep his job?
“No, and I don't ever worry about that,” he said. “I really don't.”
Has Athletic Director Mike Bohn discussed what it will take for him to stay at Colorado?
“He's been great,” Hawkins said. “We sit down every year and talk about stuff and he's been awesome the whole time, as well as our chancellor.”
Colorado returns 15 starters, including eight on offense from a unit that struggled to produce last season (314.3 yards per game, 22.2 points).
It goes into another season without a clear-cut starter at quarterback as Cody Hawkins, Dan's son, and Tyler Hansen resume their competition.
As seniors, McKnight and Brown both said they're glad that they didn't have to go through a change.
McKnight said Dan Hawkins is “doing things right” at the top.
“The consensus on the team is guys like our coaching staff, and they want them to stay and they want to do well,” McKnight said. “We just have to clean things up, we need to grow up and we need to start executing the way they're teaching us — and we can be successful.”
The goals remain as high as ever, said Hawkins, who came to Big 12 media days a year ago and was held to an offseason remark of “10 wins and no excuses” for 2009.
“I just don't know how you start a season or live a life without high expectations,” he said. “And I think it would be wrong for our guys to think otherwise, and be wrong for us to think otherwise.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
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• Video: The Big Red Today Show from day three at Big 12 media days, with Lee Barfknecht, Rich Kaipust and Jon Nyatawa:
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