Deion Sanders adds NFL heft to coaching staff at Colorado

Head coach Deion Sanders has been making his grand plan clear at Colorado: He wants to build a launching pad to the NFL for his players.

And now he has the coaching staff to show for it.

On Friday, Sanders formally announced the changes he’s made to his football staff for his second season in Boulder, including with his top coaches on offense and defense, both of whom now have significant NFL pedigrees.

Colorado confirmed the hires for the first time Friday, though they were reported previously in the news media. The new employees fill Sanders’ staff of 10 full-time assistant coaches, the most allowed under NCAA rules.

“We have two new coordinators that are wonderful, that combined I believe they have over 35 years of NFL experience, because I wanted pros,” Sanders told USA TODAY Sports this week at the Super Bowl site in Las Vegas. “It’s like a navigational system. You can’t tell me where to go unless you’ve been there.”

Deion Sanders has added several new coaches with NFL experience to his Colorado coaching staff.

Who will run Deion Sanders’ defense at Colorado?

Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, reached into the NFL to hire his new defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston, who recently finished his eighth season as the defensive backs coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. Livingston also previously worked as a Bengals scout and now replaces Charles Kelly, who left in December to become the co-defensive coordinator at Auburn, his alma mater.

Kelly spent one season under Sanders at Colorado, when the Buffaloes finished 4-8 and ranked 127th out of 130 major college teams nationally in total defense (453.3 yards allowed per game). Because he broke his contract before it expired in January 2026, Kelly owed CU $212,500, as confirmed by the university to USA TODAY Sports.

Livingston, a safeties specialist and…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/deion-sanders-adds-nfl-heft-232958532.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-02-09 23:29:58

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