BOULDER, Colo. -- New Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins'
coaching staff includes four members of his staff at Boise State
and two holdovers from Gary Barnett's staff.
Hawkins was hired Dec. 16 after compiling a 53-11 mark in five
seasons at Boise State. He replaced Barnett, who received a $3
million buyout to walk away after his seven-year stay in Boulder.
Hawkins retained Brian Cabral, who will coach the Buffs'
linebackers for the 17th season this fall, and Darian Hagan, who
moves from offensive assistant working mainly with receivers to
running backs coach. Cabral was Barnett's assistant head coach but
will serve as Hawkins' recruiting coordinator.
The four coaches accompanying Hawkins from Boise State are:
-- Ron Collins, defensive coordinator.
-- Chris Strausser, assistant head coach/offensive line.
-- Romeo Bandison, defensive line.
-- Kent Riddle, tight ends, special teams coordinator.
Collins will oversee the defense but won't coach a position as
he did at Boise State (linebackers).
Hawkins also hired Mark Helfrich, quarterbacks coach at Arizona
State, to be his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. At
32, he is one of the youngest coordinators in the nation. Eric
Kiesau, wide receivers coach at Cal, will coach receivers at
Colorado.
Veteran NFL assistant Greg Brown will coach the secondary. He
also was on the Buffs' coaching staff from 1991-93.
"Defensively, Colorado was very good last year," Hawkins said
in a statement. "Looking at what our guys have done at Boise,
always having been one of the top ranked rushing defenses, and that
being a strength at Colorado, we can continue to build on that. I'm
not a big stats guy but if you do look statistically over the
course of the last five years, on offense we have the elements of
three very explosive offenses in Arizona State, California and
Boise State.
"Plus, there's NFL experience, and with two former Buffs and
Greg Brown, those provide ties to the Coach [Bill] McCartney era,
which I think is important," Hawkins said. "We're moving forward
but always appreciate the past."