By Mark Kiszla
BOULDER, Colo. — A magical ending. An immediate ending. A just ending. An unceremonious ending. A most painful ending.
Credit Colorado quarterback Brady Hoke for laying it all on the line during a time of great uncertainty for the Buffaloes. He made the decision. He made the call. The scholarship decision. The quarterback decision. The basketball decision. The baseball decision.
But the unraveling of another promising dream at CU?
All things being equal, of course, CU fans are chiding the 24-year-old offensive coordinator for being too stubborn to step up and become a part of something magical. Why can’t he quit his day job to become the one guy the Buffaloes need on campus? If this slide toward the mid-major football abyss that has destroyed the prestige of the University of Colorado athletic program is Hoke’s fault, it would be money well spent to cash out and enjoy every dime.
When teams like Florida, Texas, Notre Dame and USC first take a stab at turning the corner, they need time to figure it out. Their sport is too complex for these things to be molded overnight. Football in college is not supposed to be basketball in sneakers.
But, after enduring two years of a steady fall, Colorado football finds itself near the bottom of the Pac-12 in attendance and on the brink of NCAA probation.
So, ask your friends at the Rolling Stones. Why do you love to rock?
Because, for the second straight season, Colorado football is giving you a full body workout.
If you are truly curious, Colorado fans, here is the truth: The Buffaloes last week failed to fill their four-year, 17,000-seat stadium in Boulder.
So where does this leave Hoke, who once set football hearts aflutter at Eastern Michigan?
“That’s a question you want me to answer,” Hoke said, appropriately without success, with a chuckle.
Meaning, if the Buffaloes are rebounding from a 4-8 record and only achieved a three-year roadblock of losing a dozen games, it’s time for Hoke to move on and find a job that suits him.
But, if Hoke is going to play grow-up, he will need a quarterback who has a legitimate chance to win the starting job for a year, at least.
Hoke can’t make that call, because he has made himself irrelevant at Colorado.