McCartney Changes Mind, Turns Down SMU

Colorado football Coach Bill McCartney changed his mind Saturday night and turned down Southern Methodist University’s offer of a 10-year contract to rebuild the Mustangs’ football program, destroyed by a pay-for-play scandal and scheduled to resume in 1989.

McCartney had indicated he would accept SMU’s offer to become head coach but suddenly changed his mind, SMU Athletic Director Doug Single said in Dallas.

McCartney said he still had to fulfill a commitment to rebuild the Colorado program.

“I knew they (SMU) had every expectation that I was coming and I gave them every expectation I was coming,” McCartney said in Boulder, Colo.

“The turning point was the meeting with (CU) President (Gordon) Gee and (Athletic Director) Bill Marolt,” he said. “They represented their commitment to CU and to me . . . and they asked me had I not made the same commitment to them, and I had.”