Colorado’s Jon Embree gets two years before he’s shown the door

Of all the coaches who were fired Sunday — and there were a lot — Colorado's Jon Embree has to be both the most shocking and not shocking of them all.

Embree, who completed a 1-11 season with a loss to Utah on Friday, was informed Sunday evening that after two years and a 4-21 record, he was not going to be retained.

The move came as a bit of a shock considering athletic director Mike Bohn gave former coach Dan Hawkins five seasons to dig the Colorado program into a talentless hole and gave Embree just two years to try to dig the program out. Still, it's hard to argue with Bohn's move, especially since it didn't appear as though Colorado was getting any better this season.

Colorado will have to pay $2.25 million to buy out the contracts of Embree and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

The quick hook on Embree also might limit Colorado's options as it looks for a replacement (unless a replacement is what triggered the firing in the first place). While all coaches have a ticking clock from the moment they start a new position, very few think that clock will run out after two seasons. Also, Colorado doesn't have the abundance of cash or the advanced facilities several of the other vacancies have.

Early names surfacing include Air Force's Troy Calhoun and Fresno State's Tim DeRuyter.

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