One of the priorities of the Colorado football team this offseason is to establish and identity on defense and tighten up that side of the ball.
To do that, head coach Deion Sanders brought in Robert Livingston as defensive coordinator. After a dozen years working with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, Livingston is a coordinator for the first time and has said it will be a collective effort on defense – not just his defense.
Still in the first half of spring practices, the Buffs are pleased with the progress on that side of the ball.
“He’s a great guy,” linebacker LaVonta Bentley said of Livingston. “He’s taken his time with us, making sure that we know the ins and outs of the defense and the calls. He’s not going to jump ahead on a call if we don’t have this call down pat to go perform out there at practice.
“Most DCs are throwing stuff out there so they can make you learn quicker. With coach, he’s just trying to make sure you get the little details and each play down before he moves on.”
Livingston is also, as he said he would do, delegating to everyone on the staff.
“He leans on all of us,” linebackers coach Andre Hart said. “Everyone has their own ditch to dig, so we all got to shovel dirt. What I’m saying is, once the install (of particular plays or situations) is presented to the coaches, it is our job to get it to our players individually. So we have more of a role as far as coaching the actual position and specifics of that install every day. So it’s put on us. So we’re getting graded (as coaches) is what’s going on, on how our players play based on how we’re teaching.”
Hart said the collaboration between Livingston and the rest of the staff has been “really, really good.” He added that it’s similar to when Sanders and Hart were at Jackson State and had Dennis Thurman – a longtime NFL coach – as defensive coordinator.
“The way things were put into practice as far as stacking and installing is the same process that Livingston just came in with,” Hart said. “So there’s some comfortability there and there’s some confidence that you build from that, because it’s something you’ve seen before. It’s something we’ve done before. And I think the players are moving faster the way we’re installing things.”
First scrimmage
On Saturday, the Buffs conducted their sixth of 15 spring practices, and it was their first scrimmage of the spring.
The practiced was closed, but in footage posted by Well Off Media, there were several highlight plays.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders connected with Travis Hunter and Dylan Edwards for wide open touchdown passes. Freshman running back Micah Welch also turned heads again and had a nice touchdown run where he broke a tackle from Shilo Sanders at the 5-yard line and backed into the end zone.
On defense, lineman JJ Hawkins tipped a pass by Shedeur Sanders that resulted in an interception. Another lineman, Amari McNeill forced a fumble by running back Alton McCaskill in the backfield.
As the offensive line continues to come together, Hank Zilinskas and Yakiri Walker both rotated at center. With the first team offense, Justin Mayers (left) and Tyler Brown (right) lined up at guard, while Jordan Seaton (left) and Kahlil Benson (right) lined up at tackle.
Notable
Receiver Omarion Miller was in a non-contact jersey for the scrimmage, but also had a nice catch. … Defensive lineman Chidozie Nwankwo was not in pads for the scrimmage. … The Buffs were off Sunday and are scheduled to be off Monday before returning to practice Tuesday.
