Darrin Chiaverini is out as Colorado's offensive coordinator

BOULDER — The first domino has fallen.

Colorado announced Sunday morning that offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini was relieved of his duties. Chiaverini, 44, joined the Colorado staff in 2016 and spent five seasons as the team’s offensive coordinator or co-offensive coordinator. He also coached the receivers while in Boulder and served as assistant head coach to Mel Tucker.

Colorado will owe Chiaverini his full 2021 salary of $600,000. More moves could be on the way, as only defensive coordinator Chris Wilson, tight ends coach Bryan Cook and inside linebackers coach Mark Smith are under contract for next season. Wilson signed a thre

Colorado is coming off a 2021 season in which the Buffaloes 257.5 yards per game, the second-worst in the nation. They were the only team in the Pac-12 with under 300 yards per game. Only the Arizona Wildcats produced fewer points per game in the Pac-12.

In six seasons running the offense, Chiaverini finished in the top half of the conference in yards per game twice and never finished in the top half in points.

The writing was on the wall for Chiaverini for most of the 2021 season. Colorado was uncompetitive too often in the early parts of the season, primarily because the Buffs couldn’t find a way to move down the field.

Not all of the struggles were Chiaverini’s fault. The offensive line struggled mightily, outside of a couple of decent late-season performances. Their quarterback was a freshman who won the job by default after one competitor transferred after spring ball and another tore his ACL late in fall camp.

Still, the play calling was lackluster at best. The offensive coaching staff, led by Chiaverini, failed to put the players in a position to succeed and deserves more blame than anybody.

Chiaverini was a wide receiver at Colorado in the ’90s, before playing four seasons in the NFL. He was the first-ever Buffalo Heart Award winner and finished his career seventh in school history in receptions. Chiaverini was a team captain in his senior season.

Chiaverini was a special teams assistant at UCLA and associate head coach at Riverside City College before catching his big break with Texas Tech. He spent two seasons at Tech coordinating special teams and he also served as the outside receivers coach in his second season.