Colorado Football: Was Karl Dorrell the right hire as head coach?

Karl Dorrell’s resume

Karl Dorrell, 56, has quite an impressive resume in over 30 years in coaching. The Buffaloes were looking for a coach with both NFL and Colorado ties and he has both.

Early in his coaching career, he was the receivers coach at Colorado with Bill McCartney. He returned to Boulder five years later coaching receivers and serving as Rick Neuheisel’s offensive coordinator. After leaving Colorado in 1998, Dorrell spent four seasons in the NFL coaching with the Washington Redskins and the Denver Broncos.

In 2003, he was hired to replace Bob Toledo at his alma mater, UCLA. During his time coaching the Bruins, Dorrell went to a bowl game every season and won 10 games in 2005. He went 35-27 in his five years in Los Angeles including a 24-18 mark in the Pac-12. It had become apparent the Bruins’ administration thought they could level up and they fired Dorrell. He then returned to the NFL as an assistant.

Though he did not have a flashy career at UCLA, he did go to a bowl game every year and had a winning record in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes would love five bowls in five years in contrast to where they’ve been as a football program.