The Colorado Buffaloes have been adding to their coaching staff but the news came out that one of the more significant coaches for the program will not be with them in 2024. Reports are going around that defensive coordinator Charles Kelly is leaving the Colorado Buffaloes and taking a job with the Auburn Tigers.
This leaves coach Deion Sanders in a situation where he now needs to replace both the offensive and defensive coordinators after offensive coordinator Sean Lewis left to accept the San Diego State head coach job. Kelly was the associate defensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide for four seasons before joining the Colorado Buffaloes.
For Charles Kelly, it is a chance to return to his alma mater as he was with the program from 1986-89. For the Colorado Buffaloes, it’s the chance to make a splash in the coaching world.
What did the Colorado Buffaloes’ defense look like during the 2023 college football season?
The Colorado Buffaloes did not do well on the defensive side of the football throughout the first season in the Deion Sanders era. The team finished allowing 34.8 points per game, which ranked 122nd in the country. When looking with how the defense stacked up in Pac-12 Conference games, the number increases a bit as the Buffs gave up 36.3 points per game.
While there are reasons as to why the defense struggled, such as injuries and the lack of sustained offensive drives, things need to be fixed. The Buffaloes are adding experienced defensive players and Hall of Famers to the coaching staff such as Warren Sapp but they need to make sure they are able to land a stout defensive coordinator.
The Buffs have some significant defensive players in their secondary as they have cornerbacks Travis Hunter and Cormani McClain to really get going in the secondary to slow down some star receivers. They need to apply some more pressure than they did throughout the 2023 season as they finished with 28 total sacks.
Colorado has some tough tasks throughout the 2024 college football schedule as they have their inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference. With so many offensive-minded programs, they need to figure out how to get the defense off the field and dominate to make a bowl game in Year 2 of coach Prime.
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