Barnett out at CU

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) Despite all the embarrassment and low moments Gary Barnett endured, he almost always managed to put a good product on the field. Recently, though, the product stopped looking so good, and that threw open the door for his ouster.

The coach's tumultuous, seven year stay at Colorado ended Thursday when he reluctantly stepped down at the behest of athletic director Mike Bohn, accepting a $3 million payment to leave the school with one year left on his contract.

“I respect that decision,” Barnett said. “I didn't like that decision – I didn't resign my position – but I wholeheartedly respect the responsibility and decisions leaders have to make.”

Barnett said he plans to coach again, and with his resume, he shouldn't have trouble finding takers.

He went 49-38 at CU, won one Big 12 championship and four Big 12 North titles. He was named AP Big 12 Coach of the Year twice.

All of it came under the microscope at a university that has never fully accepted the big business of big-time college football. The last two years came with allegations and the aftermath of a sordid recruiting scandal dogging him everywhere he turned.

“We withstood every piece of scrutiny,” Barnett said. “We held our heads up high and came out of this thing clean.”

Maybe so, but in the end, it was three straight losses by the combined score of 130-22 that proved his undoing.

Bohn said he couldn't pin his decision to part ways with Barnett on a single reason. He insisted that to say he made it because of the team's current struggles “would be erroneous.”

Still, the AD conceded the program appeared to have lost some luster, “swagger” and confidence over the past month.

“A lot of things were revealed in the last month on many, many fronts,” Bohn said. “And it became clear to me it was time to make a change.”

The new athletic director knows how valuable December can be for recruiting and, without a coach in place, he used the farewell news conference to make a pitch to players.

“The University of Colorado is a gold mine ... and we're going to work our tail off to bring a great coach to this program to match the academic standing of this institution,” Bohn said. “That will be my sole focus.”

As recently as last month, Barnett said he felt secure about his future with the Buffs and had been talking about a contract extension. A 70-3 loss to Texas last Saturday on top of a 30-3 loss to Nebraska the week before ended all that talk and essentially sealed his fate.

“It's pretty simple. We lost,” he said.

He said he was leaning toward not coaching CU against Clemson in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27, but didn't want to make an emotional decision. Bohn interpreted that as meaning Barnett wouldn't be on the sideline and said he'll soon choose an assistant to lead the team.

Thus marked a fairly rapid – though not all that stunning – reversal for Colorado, which indeed did appear ready to offer Barnett a contract extension as recently as a month ago.

The $3 million was about what Barnett would have received had he completed the contract, counting a backloaded incentive bonus, his base salary and moneys from apparel deals, football camps and the like.