BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado has fired coach Mike MacIntyre on Sunday with the Buffaloes on a six-game losing streak in his sixth season at the school, and two years after he won AP coach of the year.

Athletic director Rick George said in a statement he informed MacIntyre that the coach would not return and then met with the coaching staff and players. George said he will name an interim head coach for Colorado's final game against California on Saturday.

MacIntyre is due about $10 million from the five-year extension he signed after the 2016 season, when he was voted AP college football coach of the year after leading the Buffaloes to a Pac-12 South title and 10 victories.

That was his only winning season at Colorado, going 20-40 overall and 6-38 in the Pac-12 in the other five.

MacIntyre fell under scrutiny over his improper handling of domestic abuse accusations against former secondary coach Joe Tumpkin by a former girlfriend. Tumpkin called the defensive plays during the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29, 2016, and resigned a month later. MacIntyre's contract extension was held up for a few months by the Board of Regents.

After an outside investigation, MacIntyre, George and Chancellor Phil DiStefano were reprimanded with DiStefano serving a 10-day suspension and MacIntyre and George ordered to make $100,000 donations to domestic violence causes.

The Buffs slipped to 5-7 last season but began this year with five straight victories and moved into the AP Top 25 again, sparking excitement for another turnaround and a second bowl berth in just 11 seasons.

The Buffs, however, lost six straight games and several starters in the program's worst injury epidemic in 33 years, none more impactful that a turf toe that sidelined star sophomore receiver Laviska Shenault Jr.

Colorado tied a program futility mark by blowing a 28-point second-half lead against Oregon last month.

After Colorado's 30-7 loss to Utah on Saturday, MacIntyre maintained his belief that he'd keep his job in Boulder, where his son, Jay, was one of several seniors celebrated in pregame festivities.

"I don't feel like it's my last game," MacIntyre said. "We've got one more, hopefully we can win that and go to a bowl game."

The Buffs (5-6, 2-6 Pac-12) visit Cal (6-4, 3-4).

MacIntyre, who had taken a photo of a bison heading into a storm into his weekly news conference with buzz already building about his job being in jeopardy, said Saturday the nature of coaching is being asked when you'll leave whether you're winning or losing.

"I could've left (for) three good places, and stayed," MacIntyre said. "That's just the way it is. When you're losing, they want to get rid of you. You never can win as a head coach on that and I understand that."

Asked if he now figures he should have parlayed his success in 2016 into another job elsewhere, MacIntyre said, "No, I shouldn't have left, that's why I stayed. A lot of people told me to leave, just like a lot of people told me not to come here. I wanted to come here.

"My family loves it here. I definitely feel like this program has (progressed). You all saw it before I got here, it was abysmal. I feel like we've come a long way. This has been a tough stretch, there's no doubt about it. But no, you don't second guess anything like that, you do what you feel like is the right thing to do at the time."

MacIntyre then quoted senior receiver Kabion Ento, who spoke up after Saturday's loss, saying, "We've got one more to win one more."

A day later, that was no longer the case for MacIntyre.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo, AP Sports Writer Pat Graham and AP freelance writer Monica Costello contributed.

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Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton