The Colorado Buffaloes are in the hunt for a new head coach after firing Karl Dorrell on Sunday. Though Dorrell’s results were terrible this season, his firing still comes as a surprise for one reason.
Dorrell’s Buffaloes started this season 0-5, culminating in Saturday’s 43-20 loss to Arizona. They had been outscored by over 20 points in every game. In fact, the 23-point loss to Arizona was their closest margin of defeat this season.
Colorado had their eye on firing Dorrell for a few weeks, but they seemed to be holding off because of the coach’s buyout. Dorrell was owed $11.4 million as a buyout, minus compensation he’s already earned in 2022, if he was fired prior to the new year. Once you substract the compensation he’s already been paid for this year, Dorrell’s buyout dropped to around $8.5 million.
Had Colorado waited until 2023 to fire Dorrell, the buyout would have dropped by $3.6 million.
Dorrell was hired in 2020 to replace Mel Tucker, and signed a five-year contract to take over the Buffaloes. His first season was encouraging, as the team went 4-2 and made an appearance in the Alamo Bowl. Colorado dropped to 4-8 in 2021. This year’s ugly 0-5 start sealed his fate.
Colorado might have a tough time attracting a high-profile candidate for the job, with the football program viewed as middling and the Pac-12 facing a murky future. Despite that, they clearly felt that they could not go on with Dorrell any longer.
In addition to Dorrell, Colorado fired defensive coordinator Chris Wilson. Mike Sanford is the interim head coach and Gerald Chatman will be in the interim defensive coordinator.
