So, last time CU brought in a highly-sought, well-known coach (Barnett) who had turned down offers from better schools, he turned out to be a sleaze-ball scumbag who cratered the program. At least he was a winner. Of course, after CU he never coached again. This is a pretty low bar for Deion.
"After the success of Northwestern's football teams, Barnett became a sought-after commodity. In a 2017 article by the
Chicago Tribune, it was noted that Barnett turned down head coaching jobs with
Georgia and
UCLA following the 1995 season.
[2][3][4][5] He also interviewed for the
Notre Dame head coaching job following the retirement of
Lou Holtz in 1996, however Barnett himself withdrew from consideration.
[6][5] In 1997, Barnett and Northwestern agreed to a 12-year contract worth $500,000 per year.
[7] Barnett also received consideration for the
Texas head coaching job following the 1997 season.
[8]"
"During the 2004 season, his reputation took a hit due to a recruiting scandal, insensitive off-field remarks, and failure to maintain the on-field success of his predecessors. Barnett was alleged to have enticed recruits to come to Colorado with sex and alcohol during recruiting visits, causing the school to self-impose stricter recruiting rules over all other Division I-A schools. However, it was later determined that Coach Barnett had no knowledge of the extracurricular activities, including the allegations that he was "enticing" recruits with sex and alcohol. These events were isolated, and later attributed to several players, that were not mentioned in the allegation. That scandal, coupled with Barnett's dismissive comments about former
placekicker Katie Hnida, who alleged that she had been raped by a teammate, led to a infractions from the University. The comments that Coach Barnett made to a local sports reporter during an informal interview regarding Hnida, were in response to a question in which the reporter asked why Katie Hnida was cut from the team, to which Coach Barnett replied that she was a, "Horrible Kicker". Ultimately, the allegations and comments about Katie Hnida's kicking abilities led to Barnett's temporary suspension in 2004, during the off-season. "
"Barnett continued as coach in
2005, leading the Buffaloes to a 7–2 start. However, the Buffs lost to
Iowa State, then suffered a 30–3 thrashing at the hands of
Nebraska and a 70–3 blowout by the
eventual national champion Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game. Additionally, an anonymous tipster wrote a letter to CU system president
Hank Brown accusing Barnett of numerous improprieties, including tampering with sworn testimony.
[9]
On December 9, 2005, Barnett was forced to resign and accepted a $3 million buyout. Colorado then went on to play in the
Champs Sports Bowl, losing to
Clemson. The loss is officially credited to Barnett, even though assistant
Mike Hankwitz served as interim head coach for the game.
In June 2007, the Buffaloes were placed under probation for two years and fined US$100,000 for undercharging 133 student-athletes for meals over a six-year span (2000–01 to 2005–06 encompassing Barnett's tenure at Colorado) resulting in the major infraction.
[10] The football program, with 86 of the 133 student-athletes involved, also lost one scholarship for the next three seasons.
[10]"
