Gary Barnett has to go, and it’s thanks only to the thoroughness and professionalism of his bosses -– traits he might want to develop himself in the future -– that he’s on administrative leave instead of unemployment compensation.

If ever there were an advertisement for what’s wrong with the culture of athletics and football, it was in the way the Colorado coach chose to respond when he was asked about the rape allegations made by one of his former players, place-kicker Kathy Hnida.

She said she was harassed and abused when she was on the team. One night, while visiting a teammate, Hnida says, he raped her.

Instead of condemning the way she was treated and declaring his determination to get to the bottom of the allegations, Barnett explained that Hnida was a lousy football player who couldn’t “kick the ball through the uprights.” The way he said it suggested that such abuse from teammates –- even rape -– is what anyone who isn’t very good can expect.

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Talk about wide right. Barnett didn’t just miss the uprights, he missed the whole stadium. A man who thinks like that has no business running the most visible and popular adjunct to a major university.

Barnett also missed the point, which is that his program is a cesspool of bad and possibly criminal behavior, and he’s part of the problem.

Hnida isn’t the first or the only woman who claims she was raped by the fine young men Barnett recruited for his program. Three or four others -– the stories are coming in so fast, it’s hard to keep up with all of them -– have said they were sexually assaulted at parties thrown by team members to show recruits what a swell place the University of Colorado is to play football.

The recruits were supplied with strong beverages and provided with compliant women at the parties, several say. This one isn’t even worth denying; such parties aren’t limited to Colorado. And Barnett is hardly the first coach to say it’s not his fault because he can’t watch the kids every minute.

University president Betsy Hoffman was particularly outraged to learn that one of the women who says she was raped -– none have filed charges -– says she talked to Barnett about it. The coach -– this fine leader of men and defender of high moral values -– told her he would defend his player 100 percent. So much for getting to the facts.

A man who’s more interested in defending the insular little world of his team than in the truth doesn’t deserve a job. A man who had to know about the sex-and-alcohol parties should not be in a position of leadership and authority at a university. A man who would answer a sexual assault allegation by one of his players by pointing out that she wasn’t very good at football is beyond any adjectives I can think of.

Some people are looking at this mess and saying that not only should Barnett be fired, but the whole team should be sent packing along with him. And if ever there were a reason to shut down a football program, Barnett and his team have provided it.

But that’s not the solution, and apparently Hoffman does not intend to take that action. She’s doing the right thing, which is to investigate all charges, find out what’s really going on, and then decide what course to take.

Hoffman probably will realize that football is an important part of university culture, and that destroying the program is unfair to the great majority of the players and coaches and managers and other employers who are blameless. And she also will probably see that it is more valuable to first clean house, then build a program that does things right.

It is possible. At the University of Notre Dame, players have been thrown out of school after simply being charged with sexual assault. The university will not tolerate players getting in situations in which they can even be accused.

The university can send responsible people along with the recruits when they visit campus. There should be zero tolerance for the sort of sales pitch that seeks to convince 18-year-olds that the reason they should come to a school is because, as football players, they can get drunk and have sex anytime they want.

Colorado isn’t the only school where such parties occur. And Barnett probably chose to look the other way by convincing himself everyone else is doing it.

But the way to end such practices is for one school at a time to take a stand to do things right and stick to it. There are enough people with standards out there to still field a competitive football team, even if the party animals –- emphasis on the animal -– choose to go elsewhere.

Many will see the deepening mess at Colorado as a terrible black eye for the school. And it is. But it is also a golden opportunity for university officials to step in, clean up the program and institute controls and standards that will ultimately make their program one of which they can be proud.

It will start by sending Barnett packing along with everyone connected with this scandal. Players should be among those asked to find another place to play.

It will get worse before it gets better. But if Hoffman is as thorough as she appears to be, the cure will be worth the pain.

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