His first 18 months on the job have been challenging to say the least, but Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins is finally beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Workers have nearly completed thousands of dollars of remodeling on the football coaches' offices in the Dal Ward Center. The perfectionist in Hawkins no longer has to be annoyed by ripped carpeting or scratched doors and walls when he arrives each morning.

These days his office features pristine hardwood floors, a new paint job, new ceiling fixtures and new furniture is on the way.

The athletic department has raised the football budget by nearly $4 million since Hawkins arrived from Boise State in January of 2006, and that doesn't include money being spent to renovate and expand the Buffs' locker room and construct an indoor practice bubble, which will be ready for use this fall.

"I think we're finally starting to get out of survive mode and into thrive mode," Hawkins said of his program this week at a luncheon with over-eager fans already celebrating the arrival of football season two months before the first game is played.

Hawkins is entering what for him is a torturous time of year. He's just more than a month away from the beginning of fall camp and he's itching to get started. He's already squarely focused on the season while his players are enjoying summer and many of his assistants are alternating vacations.

He has had to live with a 2-10season, his first in Boulder, for seven months now. He's not the type to dwell on anything, but it's likely that last season's test of will won't truly be in the rearview until practices this fall finally begin.

Part of the reason Hawkins is so excited with the calendar just flipping to July is his belief that the coming season will be a much better one for the black and gold.

"I just see much more assertiveness, much more confidence, much more twinkle in the eye," he said. "I know we're going to be a lot stronger than we were last year. That will help us just physically."

During the middle of last season in one of his weekly luncheons with reporters, Hawkins revealed he keeps a to-do list and that it had grown fairly lengthy. Despite everything being accomplished around him, Hawkins said this week that the list has actually grown in the offseason. Now that some of the finer details of been addressed, he is allowing himself to peer off into the future and think about the program's big picture.

And there is a lot that goes into thinking big.

The next project he hopes to see the department tackle is expanding the Dal Ward Center in the north end of Folsom Field. It's an idea that would likely cost millions and come after a basketball practice facility is funded. Hawkins said he wants the CU program to lead the nation in supporting the academic endeavors of its student-athletes. He said the department needs more computers and more space to house them.

He also wants to expand the weight room and bring as many of the department's staffers as possible under one roof. Today, the department is spread throughout offices located at different entrances to Folsom Field.

"We need to have our compliance people here," he said. "We need to have Dave Plati here. We need to have our fundraisers here. We need a Hall of Fame. We need to honor the traditions of our former players. We've got to expand our meeting rooms and our office space."

Hawkins said the project can be completed some time in the future if the department continues to build on the fundraising successes that have produced all the construction going on around him.

But he also understands much will depend on how his team performs on the field.

"We've got to continue to support the faculty and support the community and be proactive in all their operations," he said. "And we've got to win games and garner that kind of support that, hopefully, we have people in the community and alumni and people that care about the University of Colorado at-large, who are able to come back in with some significant gifts."