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CNN Live Today
Rocky Times in Boulder
Aired February 23, 2004 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: These are some rocky times for the head football coach at the University of Colorado. Gary Barnett remains suspended with pay following his controversial comments about former place kicker Katie Hnida. But more people are now coming to his defense.
Our sports reporter, Josie Burke, joins us. She is live now in Boulder, Colorado.
Good morning -- Josie.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
What we've seen over the past couple of days is that this issue, this scandal surrounding the football team, is really dividing the community here in Boulder.
And yesterday, we had a group of about 30 parents of football players come out and hold a press conference, where they talked about the fact that, No. 1, they wanted their community to stand behind their young men, their football players, and not label them with all sorts of negative labels. And also, they wanted to come out and support their coach, Gary Barnett.
Barnett, a married father of two, is at the center of the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE (voice-over): University of Colorado football coach Gary Barnett is on the sidelines now, suspended with pay until an investigation into his program is completed in late April. Six incidents of sexual assault involving Colorado players are alleged to have occurred during Barnett's tenure.
The coach's character is being questioned -- ironic, considering that when the school lured Barnett away from Northwestern five years ago, his intent was to clean things up.
Barnett told Larry King:
GARY BARNETT, SUSPENDED CU COACH: When I came to Colorado in 1999, I made the decision to change the culture there around academics and around recruiting.
BURKE: Barnett's immediate predecessor, Rick Neuheisel, was sanctioned by the NCAA for numerous recruiting violations. Longtime Coach Bill McCartney won a national championship, but in one three- year period during the late 1980s, numerous Colorado players were either charged with or convicted of crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to rape. And in the early 1960s, the school was sanctioned by NCAA after it was revealed that top recruits had been paid to enroll at Colorado.
One of Barnett's players insists his coach established a much different environment.
SCOTT NEMETH, FORMER CU FOOTBALL PLAYER: He has faithfully directed the participants in this program to the highest level of integrity and moral discipline. Gary Barnett is an upright, honest and moral man, and I stand by him as my coach, as my leader, and as my mentor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Coach Barnett's responsibility, quite frankly, to be in the corner of his players, particularly when they're going through tough times. If something criminal has happened, then the system has to take charge in that case. But he has to support the young men in which he made commitments to; otherwise, his word is no good.
BURKE: Barnett was not entirely untainted when he landed in Boulder. Four of his players indicted during a gambling and point shaving scandal while Barnett was at Northwestern.
But in an interview last Monday, before his suspension, the coach stood by his methodology at Colorado and vowed not to change.
BARNETT: I spent 33 years acquiring a reputation for doing the right things, and I'm not going to stop. I believe that these guys come to this university for all of the right reasons. I believe this university is a tremendous university. And I think that my job is to get them through these next four or five years of college, and get them ready for the real world. That's what I'm going to go back and do what I've been doing.
BURKE: Before he can do that, Barnett has to get his job back. He says he still wants it and believes he'll be reinstated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And CU President Betsy Hoffman has said that it is still a possibility that he will be reinstated, but it will all depend on the outcome of that investigative panel -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Josie Burke in Boulder, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 23, 2004 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: These are some rocky times for the head football coach at the University of Colorado. Gary Barnett remains suspended with pay following his controversial comments about former place kicker Katie Hnida. But more people are now coming to his defense.
Our sports reporter, Josie Burke, joins us. She is live now in Boulder, Colorado.
Good morning -- Josie.
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
What we've seen over the past couple of days is that this issue, this scandal surrounding the football team, is really dividing the community here in Boulder.
And yesterday, we had a group of about 30 parents of football players come out and hold a press conference, where they talked about the fact that, No. 1, they wanted their community to stand behind their young men, their football players, and not label them with all sorts of negative labels. And also, they wanted to come out and support their coach, Gary Barnett.
Barnett, a married father of two, is at the center of the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BURKE (voice-over): University of Colorado football coach Gary Barnett is on the sidelines now, suspended with pay until an investigation into his program is completed in late April. Six incidents of sexual assault involving Colorado players are alleged to have occurred during Barnett's tenure.
The coach's character is being questioned -- ironic, considering that when the school lured Barnett away from Northwestern five years ago, his intent was to clean things up.
Barnett told Larry King:
GARY BARNETT, SUSPENDED CU COACH: When I came to Colorado in 1999, I made the decision to change the culture there around academics and around recruiting.
BURKE: Barnett's immediate predecessor, Rick Neuheisel, was sanctioned by the NCAA for numerous recruiting violations. Longtime Coach Bill McCartney won a national championship, but in one three- year period during the late 1980s, numerous Colorado players were either charged with or convicted of crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to rape. And in the early 1960s, the school was sanctioned by NCAA after it was revealed that top recruits had been paid to enroll at Colorado.
One of Barnett's players insists his coach established a much different environment.
SCOTT NEMETH, FORMER CU FOOTBALL PLAYER: He has faithfully directed the participants in this program to the highest level of integrity and moral discipline. Gary Barnett is an upright, honest and moral man, and I stand by him as my coach, as my leader, and as my mentor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Coach Barnett's responsibility, quite frankly, to be in the corner of his players, particularly when they're going through tough times. If something criminal has happened, then the system has to take charge in that case. But he has to support the young men in which he made commitments to; otherwise, his word is no good.
BURKE: Barnett was not entirely untainted when he landed in Boulder. Four of his players indicted during a gambling and point shaving scandal while Barnett was at Northwestern.
But in an interview last Monday, before his suspension, the coach stood by his methodology at Colorado and vowed not to change.
BARNETT: I spent 33 years acquiring a reputation for doing the right things, and I'm not going to stop. I believe that these guys come to this university for all of the right reasons. I believe this university is a tremendous university. And I think that my job is to get them through these next four or five years of college, and get them ready for the real world. That's what I'm going to go back and do what I've been doing.
BURKE: Before he can do that, Barnett has to get his job back. He says he still wants it and believes he'll be reinstated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And CU President Betsy Hoffman has said that it is still a possibility that he will be reinstated, but it will all depend on the outcome of that investigative panel -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Josie Burke in Boulder, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
