The Colorado program peaked with Bill McCartney, but Rick Neuheisel maintained the program’s national prominence from 1995-98. Then, Gary Barnett won 10 games in 2001 and only posted two losing seasons. The Buffs were losing steam but hadn’t fallen apart completely.
Dan Hawkins finished the program’s dismantling when he took over in 2006 with a 2-10 record. The glory days were officially gone. Hawkins coached Colorado for nearly five seasons and finished his tenure with a 19-39 record. He only took Colorado to one bowl game, in 2007, following a 6-6 regular season.
Colorado lost the 2007 Independence Bowl to ensure that he never had a winning campaign. Hawkins was fired midway through the 2010 season and was replaced by Jon Embree.