OFFICIAL: Colorado announces MacIntyre is out as Buffs' head coach
Buff Nation reacts: MacIntyre out as CU head coach
*** Coaching Rumor Mill Thread (11/18 Mike MacIntyre Fired) ***
BOULDER — Mike MacIntyre has been dismissed as head coach of the University of Colorado football team, athletic director Rick George announced Sunday morning.
George met with MacIntyre on Sunday morning to inform him of his decision, one day after the Buffaloes suffered their sixth straight loss, falling 30-7 to Utah in the home finale at Folsom Field. George then met briefly with the coaching staff and then the players in a late morning team meeting.
George will name an interim head coach for the final game of the regular season, which is this Saturday against California in Berkeley; the Buffs with a 5-6 record, would become bowl eligible with a victory.
MacIntyre took over as the school’s 25th full-time head coach in December 2012, accepting the position after serving three seasons in the same role at San Jose State. In six seasons at the reins of the CU program, the Buffaloes compiled a 30-44 record, which included a 14-39 mark in Pac-12 Conference games.
After going 10-27 in his first three years (2-25 in the Pac-12), MacIntyre’s fourth season in 2016 was dubbed “The Rise.” Colorado won the Pac-12 South Division with an 8-1 record and was 10-2 in the regular season, climbing as high as No. 9 in the national rankings (Associated Press, USA Today Coaches) and No. 8 in the College Football Playoff Committee’s penultimate poll. He was a near-unanimous choice as the national coach of the year, and the unanimous selection for the Pac-12.
However, since winning the division with a 27-22 win over Utah on Nov. 26 of that year, the Buffs have gone 10-15, starting with a 41-10 loss to Washington in the Pac-12 Championship game and a 38-8 loss to Oklahoma State in the Valero Alamo Bowl, CU’s first postseason appearance in nine years. Colorado then posted a 5-7 record in 2017, losing its last three games of the year when needing just one win to go bowling in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2004-05.
The Buffaloes got off to a 5-0 start this year, ascending to No. 18 in the Coaches poll (No. 19 by the AP); that included two Pac-12 wins over UCLA and Arizona State. Colorado’s last 5-0 start had been in 1998, but the fortunes have since reversed and CU has dropped its last six games and slipped from first to sixth in the Pac-12 South.
“I want to thank Mike for six seasons of hard work and dedication to the program, both on and off the field,” George said. “There’s no doubt that the 2016 season was magical, and it appeared we were headed back to taking our place among the nation’s elite. However, analyzing the direction of the program over the last two years, I felt this is the necessary time to make a change.”
MacIntyre has $10.3 million remaining on his contract, which runs through Dec. 31, 2021. If he obtains new employment in the National Football League or as a collegiate head coach, CU’s contract obligations will be reduced by his new salary amount. The athletic department will make monthly payments from its budget over the course of next three years; none of the funds will come from tuition money, taxpayer dollars or the campus general fund.
George will turn his immediate attention to hiring a search firm to identify candidates for the coaching vacancy as well as working with the current assistant coaches in aiding with the transition and in particular, recruiting.
This is the second year of an early signing period in football that was approved by the NCAA; this year’s three-day window begins on Wednesday, Dec. 19 through Friday, Dec. 21.