One Pac-12 coach has already lost his job this season. When Herm Edwards exited at Arizona State, the hot seat attention shifted to Boulder, Colorado, where Karl Dorrell has the Buffaloes off to a 0-4 start.

Colorado has not looked even competitive in recent weeks. It had a brief bit of hope with the quarterback change to freshman Owen McCown in the first half against UCLA, but that fizzled fast. UCLA went up 21-3 and eventually won 45-17. Colorado has lost every game by at least 25 points this season.

BuffZone’s Brian Howell caught up with CU president Todd Saliman this week to get his thoughts on Dorrell’s job status:

“Clearly, we’re not performing at the level we’d like to be performing,” Saliman said in an interview with BuffZone. “I am grateful every day for our student-athletes and what they do to try to win, but we have not figured out the formula yet and we need to fix that. I am relying on the people who are closest to the action – the chancellor (Phil DiStefano) and the athletic director (Rick George) – to find a path forward for us. I expect success. I expect excellence and I expect us to turn this around, both in the short term and the long term. We have work to do.”

Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and Nebraska have all already fired their head coaches this season. Saliman told Howell that “we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” and that they’re “keeping our eye” on performance.

According to Howell, Colorado could be on the hook for about $13 million if the entire staff were dismissed. Dorrell is under contract through December 31, 2024, and is still owed roughly $8.7 million, per Howell.

However, that might not be enough to save the staff…

“CU always lives in a financially-constrained environment in every area where we do work – academics, financial aid, research and athletics,” Saliman said. “It’s just the nature of higher education in Colorado. We also make investments in the areas where we think we need to that are strategic and are part of a long-term strategy for success.

“Of course finances are a consideration, but finances are never the only consideration. We look at things strategically to try to determine what will benefit us most over the long term.”

Dorrell won the Pac-12’s Coach of the Year in 2020 for his work in his first season with the program. CU began that season 4-0. It is 4-14 since. Colorado plays Arizona in Tucson Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network. ESPN’s FPI gives the Buffs just a 16.3% chance of beating the 2-2 Wildcats.