Unlike the Denver newspaper columnists who, like me, never played college football, I don't feel qualified to hire and fire major-college coaches.

    That's part of the reason that while writing the book Buffaloed: How Race, Gender and Media Bias Fueled A Season of Scandal, I avoided offering my opinion on now-former CU coach Gary Barnett's skills as a coach. That was only appropriate, since the book really isn't about football. It's about human decency and honesty - two things that at this point seem to be in short supply both at the University of Colorado and in the Denver-area media.

    CU's new athletic director, Mike Bohn, has every right to hire and fire the school's football coach. Only time will tell if his skills are as sharp as his trigger finger. His former stewardship of the football program at lowly San Diego State, however, would indicate his skills have yet to catch up with those of Barnett - the winner of four of the last five Big 12 North championships and the same guy who took lowly Northwestern to only its second-ever Rose Bowl. 

    Regardless of the wisdom of his firing of Barnett, there is absolutely no doubt that Bohn's handling of Barnett's contract was less than professional and, in my opinion, indicative of a man whose ego outweighs his common sense.

    Three weeks ago, when the CU football team was 7-2, Bohn offered Barnett a contract extension. During the next three weeks the team lost three games - two by embarrassing margins -- and earlier this week a Denver Post story accurately predicted Barnett's imminent firing. The next day the Rocky Mountain News ran a story -- based on an anonymous letter - that offered more unsubstantiated allegations against Barnett, who was fired before another sun rose.

    Those were quite the coincidences.

     Perhaps Bohn should take a polygraph test to prove that he was not the source of the Barnett-is-getting-fired story. The two sides had earlier agreed to keep negotiations private and only the Barnett camp and the athletic director knew the details. Logic says one of those sides broke a promise and leaked that story. Since the Barnett camp didn't even know of the imminent firing, the leak could not have come from there. That leaves only the CU athletic department on the list of suspects.

    Within days it will not matter how Barnett got slimed during the last few days of his tenure at CU.

     Talk will turn to his replacement. Barnett will take the money he earned from his contract and will no doubt again be a successful coach somewhere. His assistants, meanwhile, will be asked to coach the team's bowl game before the door hits them in the butt. They will be dismissed without contracts and with only their last paycheck in their pockets.

    The sordid events of the past few days will eventually be remembered as the point at which decency and professionalism took leave at CU. Not content with the damage it created earlier with sensational, unsubstantiated stories that hastened the destruction of many careers and lives, the Denver media has proven it still doesn't get it.

    A Thursday story in one of the papers quoted CU Regent Cindy Carlisle as saying she was outraged by the payout given to Barnett. That story failed to mention that Carlisle is married to the attorney who filed the lawsuit that sparked the so-called scandal. Carlisle has a blatant conflict of interest in commenting on football-related matters, but the story never mentioned even the hint of a conflict.

    For those who may have been in a coma for the last two years, a quick update is in order:

·CU paid Barnett the remainder of his contract because it was contractually obliged to do so under the terms of an agreement that is written in unambiguous English.

·The university had no choice but to pay him, but at least one of its regents has yet to understand that fact.

·And, more than one reporter remains ignorant regarding the terms of a contract that is a public record that anyone can obtain for 15 cents a page.

    Lest he go blindly into the politically tainted mess that is currently the University of Colorado, the next coach needs to know exactly how the university treated the last guy who held the job. He also needs to know that you can't always trust what the athletic director tells you. The next coach's assistants need to know that they could be out of work on a moment's notice with no financial security.

    During his exit press conference, Barnett took the high road. That is not surprising. He has always carried himself that way.

    However, I disagree with his high-road statement that CU is a wonderful place to coach and prosper. Recruiting and academic restrictions, coupled with an anti-football mentality and a racial atmosphere that would cause any young black man to think twice about enrolling there are going to make the next coach's job very tough.

    Bohn has gambled that firing Barnett will shake loose the wallets of the well-healed boosters being counted on to pony up the money required to take the program to the next level. Bohn's own legacy hinges on the proposition that he better be right.

    While not a football expert, but as one who has studied the situation at CU almost exclusively for two years, let me go out on limb and say the firing of Barnett will prove to be a monumentally stupid move.

     Where is CU going to find another honest, principled coach who can recruit and coach will both hands tied behind his back? The answer is nowhere.

     In one man's humble but informed opinion, Barnett is a great football coach and a better human being.

     CU may view his firing a long-haul improvement. Bohn and CU's fans will someday find out how long that haul is going to be.

    Let's hope the next CU coach has a fraction of the integrity and mental toughness of Gary Barnett.

    He's going to need it.

www.buffaloedbook.com