Deion Sanders bets big on new defensive coach: What to know about his Colorado contract

At age 38, new Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston has never been a defensive coordinator at any level before now and hasn’t coached at the college level since 2011, when he worked an entry-level job at Vanderbilt. But last week, he signed a two-year contract that is set to make him Colorado’s highest-paid assistant coach ever next year at $995,000 in 2025, according to records obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Livingston, the former defensive backs coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, will make $800,000 this year under head football coach Deion Sanders in a deal that highly incentivizes him to stay in Boulder in the event he is tempted to leave for other offers.

“I can promise you we’re going to do great things,” Livingston said in a video posted by the university Thursday.

How do his terms compare at Colorado and elsewhere?

Livingston’s two-year deal is similar to that of the coach he’s replacing – veteran assistant Charles Kelly, who left for a similar job at Auburn but had a three-year deal at Colorado averaging $900,000 per year through Jan. 31, 2026. Livingston’s guaranteed pay for next year still would make him CU’s highest-paid assistant ever for a single year.

This allocation stems from an agreement the university made with Sanders to set aside a guaranteed $5 million annually as a total salary pool for all assistant football coaches.

“This amount may be allocated by Sanders in consultation with and subject to the written approval of the Athletics Director,” Sanders’ contract states.

Robert Livingston is the new defensive coordinator at Colorado.

The expiration date on Livingston’s contract (Jan. 31, 2026) also is the same for new full-time offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and new wide receivers coach Jason Phillips. It converges with a clause in Sanders’ contract that sets up…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/deion-sanders-bets-big-defensive-130111723.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-02-16 13:01:11

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