Colorado football coach Karl Dorrell smacked a news media camera that was tracking him as he left the field after a 37-14 loss against Southern California on Saturday in Boulder, prompting his boss to issue an apology on his behalf on Twitter.
The incident came after the Buffaloes (1-4) lost their fourth straight game amid another anemic performance on offense. The camera belonged to a camera worker for the CBS television station in Denver.
“Coach Dorrell sends his apologies to the local journalist who he intercepted after today’s game,” Colorado athletics director Rick George wrote in a tweet. “We treat journalists with respect and apologize for falling short of that today.”
The general manager of the CBS station in Denver, Tim Wieland, also responded to the incident on Twitter.
“This is unacceptable and unprofessional,” Wieland wrote. “A shove like that to a photojournalist carrying a heavy camera, looking thru a viewfinder, can cause him to lose balance and get hurt or damage the equipment.”
Dorrell, who is normally stoic on the sideline during games, is in his second season as CU's head coach and has lost six of his last seven games dating to last year. His only win this year came in the season opener against Northern Colorado, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision. Last year, he finished with a 4-2 record and was named the Pac-12 Conference coach of the year after starting the season 4-0.
His team has struggled to move the ball this season behind freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis after Tennessee transfer quarterback J.T. Shrout suffered a knee injury before the season in August. Lewis’ backup, Drew Carter, also is a freshman.
The Buffs have an open week next week before resuming action Oct. 16 at home against Arizona.
