4 intriguing head coach candidates for Colorado Football

Colorado football has finally moved from head coach Karl Dorrell and here are four candidates the Buffaloes should strongly consider. 

Another week and another head coach is fired in college football as Colorado football has finally moved on from Karl Dorrell after an ugly 0-5 start to the season.

Colorado football lost each game by at least 23 points and didn’t score more than 20 points in any. This season has been a complete disaster and it’s a surprise that it took this long to make a move.

At this point, Colorado football is a long, long way from being relevant. It might be one of the worst jobs in the Power-5 right now but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

The Pac-12 really needs Colorado to succeed on this hire and it’s hard to believe that six years ago, the Buffs were playing for the conference championship.

It’s been downhill ever since and here’s a look at four candidates who could be replacing Karl Dorrell.

Ryan Walters, Illinois DC

Colorado football might not win the press conference by hiring the Illinois defensive coordinator, but this is about winning games, not making headlines.

Walter is a defensive guru and spent time as the DC at Missouri before taking the job at Illinois. He was really solid in year one and turned that unit around instantly. Here’s a look at the improvements according to the Illinois website:

"“Illinois’ scoring defense (31st from 97th), third down defense (31st from 89th), and total defense (52nd from 114th) all improved more than 50 spots in the national rankings from 2020. The Illini made massive gains in the Big Ten defensive rankings, as well, jumping nine or more spots in scoring defense (4th from 14th), touchdowns allowed (t-3rd from 14th), yards allowed per game (5th from 14th), and passing yards allowed per game (1st from 10th).”"

Walters is from Colorado and played for the Buffaloes. He understands the tradition and the Buffs have allowed more than 30 points in each of the last four seasons (43 a game in 2022). Fancy offensive hires are all the rage but Colorado football tried that with Dorrell and it didn’t work.

Walters would make a ton of sense.