Barnett Put on Leave; Future Is in Doubt

In the latest chapter of unfolding scandal, Colorado Wednesday night placed football Coach Gary Barnett on administrative leave as it sorts through the sexual assault allegations that have rocked the Boulder campus.

Asked what it would take for Barnett to keep his job, President Betsy Hoffman said, “We need to have the independent investigative team tell us that the culture in the athletic department is appropriate.”

Hoffman was clearly angered by comments Barnett made on Tuesday about former Colorado kicker Katie Hnida, who told Sports Illustrated she was raped by a player while she was a student at the university.

Hnida has not pressed charges.

Barnett said of Hnida: “It was obvious that Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do -- they respect your ability. Katie was a girl and not only was she a girl, she was terrible. OK? There’s no other way to say it. She couldn’t kick the ball through the uprights.”

Wednesday, Hoffman publicly reprimanded Barnett for his comments, stating “they were extremely inappropriate and insensitive. Rape is a horrific allegation and they should be taken seriously.”

She said earlier that she was “reserving judgment” on Barnett’s future but suggested further action might be taken later in the day.

At a Wednesday night press conference, Hoffman said she spoke with Barnett at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday and told him of her anger about his comments regarding Hnida.

“It was my feeling that he did not understand the seriousness of the comments that he made before,” she said.

Also, on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, Boulder police released a report stating that a former athletic department employee claimed she was raped by a Colorado football player in 2001. The player said the sex was consensual and the case was closed when the woman declined to press charges.

Speaking to ESPN on Wednesday night, Colorado Board of Regents member Jim Martin said Hoffman made the right decision in putting Barnett on leave.

“The university has really been shaken to the core,” Martin said. “The hemorrhaging has to stop.”

The controversy began when three women claimed they were raped by Colorado football players or recruits in 2001. No charges were ever filed, but the three women sued the school, claiming their civil rights had been violated.

Boulder County prosecutor Mary Keenan has said she believes the program has enticed recruits with sex and alcohol.

Hoffman said Wednesday she wanted to know whether there was a “breach of responsibility” regarding whether Barnett had knowledge that sex and alcohol were involved in the recruitment of athletes. Barnett has denied the claims.

He could not be reached for comment Wednesday night and did not return a message left for him at his office and through the school’s sports information office.

Reacting to the crisis, the Colorado Board of Regents has appointed a nine-person committee to investigate the athletic department and is due to issue a report by April 30.

Colorado Athletic Director Dick Tharp said the action to put Barnett on leave is “being taken in order to do everything possible to promote the work of the independent investigation. The university, the athletic department, the football program and coach Barnett need resolution of these allegations.”

Tharp said he will soon meet with Barnett and his coaching staff to “jointly develop a plan for moving forward during this period.”

Barnett recently completed his fifth-year as Colorado coach after replacing Rick Neuheisel, who left to coach at Washington, in 1999. Barnett came to Colorado from Northwestern, where he led the Wildcats to an improbable Rose Bowl appearance after the 1995 season.