Luke The Drifter said:
It was probably worth it. After he was hired, CU had a record number of new student applications and donations to not just the athletic department but also the school hit all-time record highs. They were on national TV seemingly every single week for 2+ seasons. It was no different than it was at A&M when we had "home run" hires with Fran and Jimbo. People around here were just as crazy then as the people in Colorado were a couple of years ago.
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You put "home run" in quotes. You are correct to do that.
You think a bump in student applicants and athletic donations for a year or three was worth it? I disagree. Carnival barkers can get everyone excited about something for the short run. Then they head out with the money and leave you with nothing of real value.
My favorite thing Mike Elko has said at least twice since he's been at A&M is that this is a real program. No fast talking politicians. No gimmicks. You want to learn to play football better? Come here.
Fool's gold is worthless no matter how excited we or Colorado folks were when we bought it. Yes, we bought a lot of fool's gold ever the years. But Colorado's turn with fool's gold takes the cake for getting taken in. At least we could point at Jimbo's national title.