BOULDER - University of Colorado football has a rich tradition. Second-year coach Dan Hawkins has a suggestion: Show it to him.

Show it to the public. Show it to recruits.

Hawkins believes CU must capitalize on its football history as one step in helping the program right itself. Only 11 Division I schools have played football for more seasons than CU, and Hawkins wants the Buffaloes' tradition, particularly recent tradition, pushed to the forefront.

"The thing that's amazing about this place is . . . where is it (the tradition)?" he said. "Where's the whole marketing thing, the outreach thing, the fans-friendly, ticket-friendly - all that stuff.

"So all that stuff has to continue to happen. . . . People go, 'Colorado is not the mecca of football.' And I go, 'You think Berkeley (Calif.) is the mecca? You think Eugene (Ore.) is the mecca?'

"Trust me, when you're on the Left Coast, man, there's a lot of cool things to do. If your football is not happening, you got things to do. But if you got it going on, they show up."

Hawkins, though, recognizes corrective steps are being taken.

"Simple stuff," he said. "I mean think about it. Mike (Bohn, athletic director) is going to put coach Mac's (Bill McCartney) picture up there by the (1990) national championship trophy.

"I mean, God bless Fred Folsom. Great guy, awesome. He's got his bust up out there (in the Dal Ward Athletics Center lobby), which is awesome.

"But where's coach Mac? Where's coach (Eddie) Crowder? A guy ought to walk in this building and go, 'Yeah, let's worship the shrine. There's coach Mac, right there.' "

Hawkins also said the 1994 Heisman Trophy won by Rashaan Salaam will be showcased, as well as Butkus Awards won by Alfred Williams (1990) and Matt Russell (1996). And all former players will be recognized in some way in a revamped Dal Ward.

But if Hawkins is bullish on acknowledging past traditions, he is equally intent on starting new ones. This season's game- day tradition in the making, he said, is a team campus walk with "all our fans out there, get the whole Buffs stampede thing going, slapping the buffalo statue on the quadrangle" before the players come through the stands and into Folsom Field.

Hawkins, whose first CU team finished 2-10, said the school's shortcomings in those areas have been weighing on him since his hiring.

"I've had it on the front of my brain for a long time," he said. "I'm just kind of into that whole thing. You got a lot of tradition, you got a lot of great things and it needs to be represented.

"That's one of the reasons I came. Are you kidding me? If you're willing to roll up your sleeves and start pumping on that air compressor, man, there's a lot that can be done here. . . . I totally believe that.

"And I'm totally good with that. You roll up your sleeves and go to work. The bad news is, there's a lot of work to be done; the good news is, there's a lot of work to be done. If you can walk away at the end of the day (and say), 'Hey, how about that? I was here when we did that, I was here when they did that.' "

One improvement already under way on his watch is the locker room, which is being used but is not scheduled for completion until the home opener - Sept. 15 vs. Florida State.

The building upgrade currently is in the first of two phases that will cost about $1 million, all from donations, upon completion.

The first phase, costing $650,000 to $700,000, has centered on the locker room, which had not undergone any major improvement since Dal Ward was completed in summer 1991.

Locker room tours will be given from 9-10 a.m. today, followed by the second scrimmage of preseason camp (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) at Folsom Field.

brooksb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5466