FanHouse CodyHawkins

The mystery surrounding Dan Hawkins' immediate future at Colorado has been resolved.

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn announced Thursday morning that the embattled coach will return for his fifth season in 2010. Speculation had mounted in recent weeks as the Colorado Buffaloes spiral at 3-8 – their third non-bowl season in four years.

But Bohn and Colorado chancellor Dr. Phillips DiStefano met with Hawkins and his team Thursday morning to inform them of the plans to allow Hawkins to continue on.

Colorado coach Dan Hawkins has been adamant the past few seasons that having his son, Cody Hawkins, play quarterback for the Buffaloes was no different than other recruit.

Hawkins did a complete turnaround during Monday's weekly press conference, saying if he had to do it all over again he would not have recruited his own son.

"Not for him, no. Nope. Not at all," Hawkins said. "It's not fair to him. Here is a guy who is trying to do his best to win games and to help his team and does everything right, he's a good student and he's getting killed on Facebook and getting killed on his cell phone.

There is nothing new about Bob Stoops matching coaching wits with old mentor and boss Bill Snyder. They've done plenty of that over the years in Big 12 cross-divisional play.

But that doesn't mean Stoops isn't a little surprised to see Snyder, 70, back on the Wildcats sideline. The longtime Kansas State coach retired four years ago to pursue opportunities outside coaching, but was lured out of retirement last winter.

Stoops, whose 22nd-ranked Sooners host the Wildcats on Saturday, admits it's a little unexpected to be going up against his old boss again, but he was stunned when Snyder was no longer there, too.

Conventional wisdom says Tyler Hansen should have been wary.

You don't commit to a program where the quarterback you will be competing with for time is the head coach's son. Period.

But that is exactly what the lightly-recruited Hansen did two years ago when he committed to Dan Hawkins and the Colorado Buffaloes, with Cody Hawkins already entrenched as the team's signal caller. Ever since, it had been a rollercoaster ride for Hanson.

We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.

Well, the trio took it to a ridiculous level Saturday as the receivers bested each other during the Jayhawks' 41-31 win over Iowa State. First Briscoe set the school record for career receptions, then Meier jumped ahead of him. Meier, a converted quarterback, has 167 career catches while Briscoe sits at 165 after making 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.

Every college football season there seems to be at least one major conference that's projected to be among the best , only to find out it's all just hype.

Could this season be the Big 12's turn?

Projected to be one of the top two conferences in the country, along with the SEC, there is now a small mountain of evidence indicating the Big 12 isn't the conference we thought it would be. The league has already suffered more than it share of stunning upsets in non-conference play, starting at the top.

Few things in life are as heartwarming as a lifelong bond between father and son. Playing catch in the backyard. Going fishing. Hell, getting a little homework help. But then young men eventually grow up and gain independence and make decisions that take them away from their fathers.

Nowhere is that more public than in the recruiting game. Many times a player will stick with his father (see Luke Bellotti playing at Oregon for his father Mike Bellotti or quarterback Cody Hawkins heading to Colorado to play for his old man). But while blood may be thicker than water, sometimes blood doesn't have the pull it should.

Last year, Georgia coach Mark Richt's son Jon Richt pledged to play quarterback for Clemson over his fathers' Dawgs. No doubt a tough decision for a closeknit family like that. The separation continues this year as it is rumored UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker's son Kevan, a receiver prospect, will not stick with dear old dad at UCLA but instead play for the Oregon State Beavers.

The upshot to all of this is that while recruiting is a competitive, sometimes nasty business, coaches recruiting a fellow coaches' son must tone down his pitch which can only help but improve relations between coaches.

That didn't take long.

Two minutes into his collegiate debut, Cody Hawkins has engineered an 83-yard touchdown drive for Colorado. The capper was a beautiful 20+ yard touchdown pass to put the Buffaloes up 7-0 over rival Colorado State.

Hawkins is coach Dan Hawkins' son whose game is reminiscent of Chris Leak. Colorado is about a three point favorite in this hotly contested rivalry game.

I'm all for having a realistic outlook on life, and I understand the importance of doing one's best. That being said Nick Nelson, a junior college transfer at Colorado, might be taking things a bit too seriously. This is what he had to say about his battle with Cody Hawkins for the Buffaloes starting quarterback job:

"I think it's real crucial because this is my last chance," Nelson said. "If Cody starts, I'm pretty much done. I'm going to be a backup for the rest of my career. So that puts a little extra pressure on me, but that's OK. I can handle it. I like pressure."

Pretty much done? A little extra pressure? I'm pretty sure this is what psychologists call "catastrophisizing". I understand that you're facing an uphill battle in trying to beat out the coaches son, but relax Nick, you've only been campus since January. It should come as no surprise then that, while Cody and his dad were off spring breaking with Urban Meyer, Nelson was busy criticizing his own play.

"I've got to pick it up a little bit. I can't be making some of the mistakes I've been making."

Nick Nelson – he's so emo.

Spring break is traditionally a time for college kids to head to Florida. Its not surprising then that Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins did just that a few weeks ago. What is surprising, however, is that Hawkins took his father, Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins with him, and the two spent some time with Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

"I think it's really good to get out and just compare notes and see how other people do things," [Dan] Hawkins said. "It makes you think not so much what they do but what you do and why you do it. "It was nice. Went to a lot of meetings and just soaked it up."

No mention of beer bongs and wet t-shirt contests, and I'm shocked that MTV didn't bother to cover their exploits. But the trip sounds about right for a team coming off a 2-10 record in 2006. Sometimes its just good to get away and experience something new. You know, like a winning attitude.

"From those guys, I think probably the biggest thing you can learn is just the swagger and dedication to it," Cody Hawkins said. "...I was just noticing how dedicated the players were to everything. I mean, they were Gator football players and they really took pride in playing football for the University of Florida."