Colorado releases buyout details for Karl Dorrell, announces interim head coach

Colorado officially announced Sunday that it will part ways with head football coach Karl Dorrell after two-and-a-half seasons. The announcement comes after the news was first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Dorrell completed half of his five-year contract, and is owed a buyout of $8.7 million. Per the terms of the contract, Dorrell will be paid in installments and the total buyout would be mitigated by the salary of his next coaching job. Funds for the buyout will come exclusively from the athletic department budget.

The Buffaloes simultaneously announced that offensive coordinator Mike Sanford is set to take over as interim head coach. A 17-year coaching veteran, Sanford is in his first year with the program and brings experience as a head coach at Western Kentucky in 2017 and 2018.

“I want to thank Karl for his hard work in leading our program since 2020,” athletic director Rick George said. “Ultimately, however, the results on the field just did not measure up to our expectations and standards, which made it necessary for us to make this change at this time. It was an extremely difficult decision and I wish Karl all of the best in his future endeavors.”  

After a bye next week, Sanford will coach his first game as the Colorado head man on Oct. 15 when the Buffaloes take on California at home.

More on the dismissal of Karl Dorrell

It’s been a nightmare 2022 season for Dorrell and company, as Colorado is winless on the season at 0-5. Evidently, Saturday was the final straw for the administration, as the program lost to Arizona by a score of 43-20.

Dorrell took over Colorado prior to the 2020 season, following over a decade of holding various roles on NFL coaching staffs. Among them, Dorrell coached for the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Houston Texans.

Prior to Colorado, Dorrell had some head coaching experience with the UCLA Bruins, leading their program from 2003 to 2007.

With UCLA, Dorrell was 35-27 as a head coach, including a magnificent 10-2 season in 2005. However, he never reached a similar level of success with Colorado, amassing an 8-15 record over three seasons with the Buffaloes.

Colorado also made a change at the defensive coordinator position, as Thamel added that the Buffaloes let go of Chris Wilson, as well. The 53-year old Wilson had been a defensive assistant at various college programs, as well as multiple NFL teams.

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.