Jon Embree was fired Sunday night by Colorado after a 4-20 record over two years. (US Presswire)

Bill McCartney recruited Jon Embree to Colorado, coached him for four years there and was instrumental in bringing his former player back to Boulder as head coach in 2010. Earlier this year, he rallied to Embree's defense following a 69-14 debacle at Fresno State that had some fans calling for Embree's head. And where Embree seemed stunned and emotional when the ax actually fell over the weekend, McCartney just sounds angry.

Appearing on a local radio show on Tuesday, McCartney read a prepared letter in which he called the premature termination of Embree's contract after just two years "an indictment of true integrity" and encouraged "men and women of Colorado" to "stand up and be counted" in their opposition to the decision.

After he read the letter, McCartney said the school did not give Embree, who is black, as much opportunity to succeed as they would have given a white coach. McCartney said he knows why he was given more than two years to work through losing seasons at CU.

"Honestly, I believe it's because I'm Caucasian. I believe black men have less opportunity, shorter time if you will," McCartney said. "It's just like, Dan Hawkins got five full years. Why not give Jon Embree five years? You signed him to a five-year contract.

"Men of color have a more difficult road to tread. It didn't happen to me. Why should it happen to a black man?"

McCartney also criticized university chancellor Phil DiStefano.

"I heard the chancellor said it didn't matter what color Jon was. I think that offends every person of color out there," McCartney said. "This guy can match wits with any white guy out there. He's the real deal."

The day before McCartney's charge, DiStefano said during a Monday press conference to announce Embree's termination: "We didn't hire Jon because he's an African-American, and we didn't fire Jon because he's an African-American." The university has not responded to McCartney's letter or statements on Tuesday.

Colorado finished the season last week with a single win, a 35-34 decision over fellow Pac-12 bottom dweller Washington State in September, and just four wins in Embree's two seasons at the helm. The 2012 team finished last in the conference in eight major statistical categories -- total offense, total defense, scoring offense, scoring defense, rushing defense, passing efficiency, pass efficiency defense and turnover margin -- and was among the bottom five teams nationally in all eight. Following the lone victory in Pullman, the Buffs allowed at least 38 points in eight consecutive defeats and ultimately allowed more points per game than any other team in the nation (46.0). They failed to win a game at home for the first time since 1920.

But McCartney has been there. When he was hired as head coach in 1982, Colorado had won just seven games in three years under his predecessor, Chuck Fairbanks, and went on to win just seven in McCartney's first three seasons. In his third year, 1984, the Buffs finished 1-10, with six of those 10 losses coming by at least 17 points. Today, that record would guarantee a pink slip at any major program in the country, as Embree's fate proves.

At the time, though, the university decided to stick with McCartney. By the end of the 1980s, Colorado emerged as an improbable national powerhouse. In 1989, Colorado broke through with an 11-0 regular season, narrowly missing out on a national championship in an Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame; the following year, 1990, the Buffs finished the job by beating the Irish in an Orange Bowl rematch to claim the Associated Press crown. From 1989 to 1996, Colorado won three Big 8 championships under McCartney and his successor, Rick Neuheisel, and finished in the top 10 of the final polls five times -- all less than a decade removed from its status as perennial laughingstock.

Embree told reporters after Friday's season-ending loss to Utah that he had already been assured by athletic director Mike Bohn that he would be back as head coach in 2013. Embree said he was mulling ways to get the team back on track, including installing a new offense and making changes to his staff. McCartney, echoing much of the sentiment around the program, told the Denver Post that "you've got to be stupid" to judge Embree based on the lame duck program he inherited from Hawkins.

"It was bankrupt," McCartney said. "If he had quality players who were older guys, he would've played them. The younger guys were better and had more potential but weren't ready."

Photo of Bill McCartney via the Associated Press.