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Coach Prime’s Lieutenants – CU’s 2025 Coaching Staff
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Coach Prime made history when he brought his NFL Hall of Fame gold jacket to Boulder in December, 2022.
He made history again when he hired fellow Hall of Famer Warren Sapp to help coach the CU defensive line in 2024.
For the 2025 season, Coach Prime is at it again, bringing in yet another gold jacket to Boulder, hiring Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk to coach CU’s running backs.
Coach Prime broke the mold on how to build a college football roster, and now he is rewriting the rule book on how to build a college football coaching staff.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the accepted method for head coaches hiring their assistants involved one of two criteria:
— Bring in lifers, coaching assistants who had spent their careers working up the coaching ladder, starting as graduate assistants, putting in their time at smaller schools, eventually working their way up to the Power conference level; and/or
— Bring in coaches you had worked with as you yourself were putting in your time, paying your dues, using relationships and shared coaching experiences to mold your roster of assistants.
Coach Prime’s methodology, one which is now being copied at programs like North Carolina, is to build a staff long on NFL experience, collegiate coaching experience (or even, in some cases, any coaching experience at all) be damned.
For CU fans who have endured a parade of unsuccessful coaches over the past two decades, Coach Prime taking a 1-11 embarrassment of a program to a 9-4 record in two years is nothing short of miraculous.
Now, with a roster as talented as Buff fans have seen in years, Colorado has new coaches at three critical positions – running back, offensive line, and defensive line.
Will Coach Prime’s methodology of building a coaching staff prove prescient?
Let’s find out …
Here’s a look at CU’s coaching staff for the 2025 season (new coaches in bold) …
Head coach … Deion Sanders
Offensive coordinator … Pat Shurmur
Defensive coordinator … Robert Livingston
Quarterbacks coach … Pat Shurmur
Running backs coach … 2024: Gary Harrell … 2025: Marshall Faulk … Tommie Robinson
Wide receivers coach … Jason Phillips
Tight ends/inside receivers coach … Brett Bartolone
Offensive line coach … 2024: Phil Loadholt … 2025: Gunnar White … George Hegamin … Andre Gurode
Defensive line … 2024: Damione Lewis … 2025: Domata Peko … Warren Sapp
Defensive ends … 2024: Vincent Darcy … 2025: George Helow
Linebackers … Andre Hart
Cornerbacks … Kevin Mathis
Safeties … Robert Livingston
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First Impressions …
The first thing that struck me about the 2025 coaching staff roster is how much actual continuity there is from the 2024 season. Much has been written about the new coaches coming in – and the resumes of those coaches – but there are also a significant number of coaches returning. Buff players in the rooms containing wide receivers, tight ends, linebackers and cornerbacks all have the same assistants they had last season, while the quarterbacks and safeties also have the same coaches – coaches who are also serving as CU’s coordinators.
Speaking of CU’s coordinators …
Pat Shurmur is back for his second full season at CU as offensive coordinator, and his first without Shedeur Sanders at quarterback.
Some of Shurmur’s quotes from the opening press conference this spring are telling about what CU fans can expect from the Shurmur offense this fall. Colorado had a dynamic passing offense last season, with the roster boasting Shedeur and a number of NFL-caliber wide receivers. Lost in the aerial display were the tight ends (nine combined catches on the season, for a grand total of 65 yards) and the running backs (CU finished last in the nation in rushing yards).
Shurmur’s quotes:
— “I think we have a little bit more of a diverse roster this year, which should allows us to do some different things”. Shurmur also said later, when asked about the running back room: “I think it’s a really good group. … They were underutilized a little bit last year. Some of that is by design” … Translation: There was some hero ball from Shedeur last season. CU ran any number of run-pass-options last year, but most of CU’s RPO’s all turned into passes. This fall will see the return of the Run part of the RPO;
— On the tight end room: “I think tight ends are so important. … We got a lot out of our guys that we had playing out there … but we we were in 10 personnel a lot” … Translation: Be it CU’s wealth of talent at the wide receiver position, or how Shedeur ran his plays, the tight ends were ignored last season. That might not be the case in 2025;
— On how he will pick the starter at quarterback: “As my youngest daughter would say, it’s not that deep” … Translation: The battle for starting quarterback will be decided by the players themselves, with the competition heading into Fall Camp. Shurmur said there was a “healthy” competition going on so far between Kaidon Salter and Julian Lewis – and that’s all Buff fans can hope for in the spring.
Defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, meanwhile, has had a much better offseason. Livingston flirted with NFL positions while picking up a nice raise and a contract extension.
Some of Livingston’s quotable quotes from Week One:
— On his contract extension: “This is a special place, and they gave me a chance … They changed my life, they changed my family’s life and it’s my job not to let them down”;
— On transfer linebackers Reginald Hughes and Martavius French, who are being counted on to take over for LaVonta Bentley and Nikhai Hill-Green: “We’re excited about those guys … obviously that position you’re the quarterback of the defense. They get a lot of reps” … Translation: We really need this pair to work out; they are getting plenty of reps because the room is very thin.
Now about those new coaches …
Several of the new assistant coaches met with the press in the first week of spring practices. Picking through what they had to say …
Running backs coach – Marshall Faulk … Resume: Hall of Fame running back … Coaching experience: None.
— On CU finishing last in the nation in rushing last season: “I don’t want to say that the team was as bad as they were, but I mean, like, when MJ likes dunking, you dunk. Steph Curry, he likes to shoot threes. You shoot threes. That’s what you do, and then they are saying you are bad at something else, because you’re really good at something … We’re going to be better. I can guarantee you we are going to be better.”
— On his offensive mindset: “There’s two things that you got to be able to do when you play running back, protect the ball and protect the quarterback. If you can’t do them, then you can’t play … You are a hazard to the team.”
Defensive line coach – Domata Peko … Resume: 15-year NFL career … Coaching experience: One year with Dallas Cowboys
— On his room: “We got a lot of seniors on our group. I think we got like five to six seniors in our D line group, and we got some young guys as well. So it’s a good mix. But I really when you have a lot of seniors, we have a lot of guys that this is their last year, their last year, their last chance to make it. It brings out the best in everybody.’
— On reuniting with Robert Livingston, with whom he spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals: “I really love how he makes it simple for the guys. You know, we’re not putting in 100 installs. You know what? I mean, he’s keeping it nice and basic and simple, but at the same time, man, he does a good job of teaching, you know, I mean, and that’s what coaching is, man, it’s not only about yelling at people and getting them to do the right things, but it’s about being the best teacher, you know? I mean, getting the best out of your guys. And I think Rob does a great job of getting the best out of his unit.”
Offensive line coach – Gunnar White … Resume: Played at Texas Tech … Coaching experience: With Coach Prime for four years, including two at Jackson State
— On improving the offensive line play in 2025: “We have to run the ball like that’s a non negotiable. We had two of the best players in college football last year. Of course, we’re going to utilize that right? So if it’s a weapon and a strength, why leave it on the table, but we have to run the ball, and the team has to depend on the offensive line this year for us to be successful like we’re planning hope to be.”
Defensive ends coach George Helow … Resume: Played at Ole Miss … Coaching experience: Georgia – 2014-15 (safeties); CSU (linebackers/safeties) 2016-19; Maryland (linebackers) 2020; Michigan (linebackers) 2021-23; Colorado (“senior defensive coach”) 2024
— On building off of last season’s success of the defensive line: “You just have a one day at a time approach. And you know, you always want to build on the success that you had, whether it was negative or positive. There was a lot of positive things last year that the front did, lot of good coaches in that room, and we just want to build on it. It’s taken one day at a time and having that mentality and just getting better on the on the little things.”
— On the identity of the defensive line in 2025: “Coach Prime is making sure that we’re turning and burning, sprinting to the ball, playing with good pad level, creating good separation and lockout, knocking guys back. You know, all the defenses that I’ve been a part of, at the places that I’ve been, those are the key components that have, all you know, been in common.”
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Many doubters have eaten a lot of crow the past few seasons when spouting off about Coach Prime’s coaching philosophies. From the overall of the roster to the unconventional makeup of the coaching staff, CU’s head coach marches to the beat of his own drum.
Retaining both coordinators provides stability for the coaching staff and the Buff players. Seven assistants in all return from last year.
Coach Prime brought in a Hall of Famer last year in Warren Sapp. Sapp had no coaching experience, but Sapp’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the game made the move look smart.
Now, Coach Prime is bringing in another Hall of Famer with no coaching experience, while hiring (or promoting) other new assistants with sparse resumes.
Once again, the doubters will have their say this off-season.
While Coach Prime could have the last laugh …
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