Dec 7, 2005 12:24 pm US/Mountain
Barnett Reacts To Report That He'll Be Fired
By Eddie Pells, AP Sports Writer
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
Colorado's Gary Barnett will not be retained as football coach following three straight losses to end the season, The Denver Post reported Wednesday.
The newspaper said a source close to contract negotiations "indicated Tuesday" that Barnett will not be brought back to coach the Buffaloes, who lost to Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas by a combined score of 130-22. The source, which the newspaper did not identify, said the poor finish was the final straw.
Barnett, who did not return messages left by Associated Press, told Denver radio station KOA-AM he doesn't know if his job is in jeopardy and that he hopes to get answers as soon as possible for his players and the program.
"I don't know any of the validity to this," he said. "I don't know if there is validity, I don't know if there isn't. All I know is, at this point in time, nobody's said anything to me."
Athletic director Mike Bohn, traveling back to Colorado from meetings in New York, called the report "speculation."
"I don't know about that," Bohn told the AP when asked if the report was true. "It's inappropriate for me to comment at this time."
Bohn said he was planning to sit down with Barnett "pretty quickly" upon his return to discuss the future.
The coach has a year remaining on his contract and, if he is fired, he'll be owed about $1.8 million -- money many believe the school cannot afford to pay. Barnett's record is 49-38 after seven seasons.
The 59-year-old coach had emerged relatively unscathed from a recruiting scandal, winning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and advancing to the conference title game for the second straight year this season.
The president, chancellor and athletic director all stepped down in the aftermath of the scandal, which resulted in an investigation that concluded drugs, alcohol and sex were used to entice recruits to the Boulder campus, though none of practices were sanctioned by university officials.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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