ESPN College Football

BOULDER, Colo. -- Gary Barnett's tumultuous stay at Colorado ended Thursday when the coach reluctantly stepped down, accepting a $3 million payment to sever a tenure riddled by off-the-field problems and finally done in by bad results on the field.

In a news conference he wanted to be a part of, Barnett said he was forced to step down by athletic director Mike Bohn.

"I respect that decision," Barnett said. "I didn't like that decision -- I didn't resign my position -- but I wholeheartedly respect the responsibility and decisions leaders have to make. Mike felt like he had to make this decision.'

Barnett, who finished 49-38 in seven seasons at CU, pointed to a resume that includes a Big 12 Conference championship, four Big 12 North titles and two AP Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.

"I would deem that a success. Other people might not," he said.

Bohn, who took to the microphone after Barnett left the room, said the coaching search would begin immediately. Knowing how crucial this time of year is for recruiting, he looked toward the cameras and emphasized that CU is a great place to play.

"The University of Colorado is a gold mine ... and we're going to work our tail off to bring a great coach to this program to match the academic standing of this institution," Bohn said. "That will be my sole focus."

The new athletic director said he couldn't pin his decision to part ways with Barnett on a single reason. He insisted that to say he made it because of the team's current three-game losing streak, during which Colorado has been outscored 130-22, "would be erroneous."

Still, the AD conceded the program appeared to have lost some luster and confidence over the past month.

"A lot of things were revealed in the last month on many, many fronts," Bohn said. "And it became clear to me it was time to make a change."

As recently as last month, Barnett said he had felt secure about his future with the Buffs. He had been talking about a contract extension. A 70-3 loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game last Saturday ended all that talk and essentially sealed his fate.

"It's pretty simple. We lost," he said. "I think our team has been overly concerned about a contract extension ... We ran out of juice, the well went dry."

He said he was leaning toward not coaching CU against Clemson in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27, but didn't want to make an emotional decision. Bohn interpreted that as meaning Barnett wouldn't be on the sideline and said he'll soon choose an assistant to lead the team.

Thus marked a fairly rapid -- though not all that stunning -- reversal for Colorado, which indeed did appear ready to offer Barnett a contract extension as recently as a month ago.

The coach said he pretty much thought it was a done deal when the Buffs began the season 7-2. Many others figured it was only a matter of a state audit of Barnett's football camps, due out next Monday, that was holding things up.

That didn't turn out to be true and now, "I've got to go out and do something else. It's that time," Barnett said.

He said he wants to coach again and he certainly has the resume that will earn him another job. A former assistant at CU for Bill McCartney during the CU heyday of the 1990s, Barnett went onto Northwestern and turned that lagging program around.

He was brought to Colorado, ironically, to help spruce up the image of a program that had earned something of a renegade status under Rick Neuheisel.

At first, Barnett was successful. By the end, he found himself in the center of a sordid recruiting scandal, which resulted in an investigation that concluded drugs, alcohol and sex were used to entice recruits to the Boulder campus, though none of practices were sanctioned by university officials.

No charges were filed, but Barnett got into further trouble when he used derogatory terms in talking about kicker Katie Hnida, who came out with allegations that she was raped by a teammate in 2000. Barnett was suspended by the school in the spring of 2004 and had restrictions placed on his recruiting, which have since been eased.

When Barnett returned from his suspension, he still had his job, but the president, chancellor and athletic director were all soon gone.

Now, it's a clean sweep, though Barnett said he has nothing to be ashamed of.

"We withstood every piece of scrutiny," Barnett said. "We held our heads up high and came out of this thing clean."

He appeared to have a good relationship with Bohn, who commended the coach as a consummate professional.

But the inability to get the contract extension done -- Barnett changed agents just a few weeks ago -- left both parties in an awkward situation.

Barnett couldn't legitimately recruit with only a year left on his deal; no players want to play for a lame-duck coach. Cash-strapped CU, on the other hand, couldn't really afford to pay Barnett what it would cost to buy him out, then fork out more to hire a new coach.

But the school will have to.

Bohn said the $3 million Barnett will receive will come largely from extra revenue generated by the 12th game, which all Division I schools will start playing next season.

"It's important to respect and honor our contractual obligations," Bohn said.

Players, not surprisingly, were stunned and a little dismayed by the decision. Barnett addressed them in an emotional meeting before his news conference.

"I was part of his first recruiting class," tight end Quinn Sypniewski said. "I think it's a tragedy to see him go out the way he is."

Members of the school's governing Board of Regents hailed the change. One, Tom Lucero, said Barnett had become emblematic of the scandal surrounding the football program.

"It's not necessarily fair at times," he said. "But a change certainly can bring fresh air to the university."

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Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda in Denver contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

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