BOULDER — New Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston is well-aware that the Buffaloes’ fall training camp is still in its infant stages.
Just two practices in, the excitement level is sky-high and the days of drudgery — the dog days of August — are a week or two away.
As Livingston so aptly put it after Wednesday’s workout, “I get it. It’s early in camp, right? It’s all rainbows and butterflies. We haven’t lost a game yet. But the players, the staff, it’s a phenomenal building to come to work every day.”
But Livingston’s optimism is based on far more than just the enthusiasm that goes with opening camp. He has some concrete reasons to believe the Buffs will be a much better defensive team in 2024.
For starters, Livingston saw the Buffs make some big strides in improving their personnel in the offseason. For the second year in a row, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and his staff made big moves in the transfer portal, upgrading at nearly every position.
Now, Livingston is looking at a group that has a high-quality secondary, a much-improved defensive front and a veteran group of inside linebackers that has also been bolstered by offseason additions.
The expectation is that the Buffs will be significantly better than the 2023 team that finished near the bottom of the nation in total defense (127th, 453.3 yards per game) and scoring defense (121st, 34.83 points per game).
One of the most notable things of Livingston’s tenure thus far is what he hasn’t done.
He hasn’t instituted a huge schematic change. He hasn’t insisted that the players evolve to become perfect fits for his idea of what CU’s defense will be.
Rather, he and his defensive staff are studying every player’s strengths. From there, they will continue to craft and shape a defense that makes the most of those strengths.
Not that the basics of the scheme aren’t continuing to be installed. But what Livingston doesn’t want to do is try to force square pegs into round holes.
“We’ve kind of talked about as a staff, we’ll go 10 days into camp and then we’ll kind of look at what they can do,” Livingston said. “It’s our job as coaches to put these guys in positions to be successful … My biggest pet peeve is when people say what somebody can’t do. We have to look at what they can do. If somebody’s dynamic at one thing, let’s get them doing that.”
Livingston has spent most of his coaching career with the secondary, including the last eight seasons with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals.
He is thus obviously pleased to have a talented group of defensive backs to work with, a bunch that includes two-way star Travis Hunter, a preseason All-American defensive back selection.
Hunter played last year at cornerback for the Buffs, but spent the majority of the spring at the nickel spot, giving him the opportunity to make plays in a variety of situations instead of being locked onto a wide receiver on every play.
That also gave the Buffs a chance to work newcomers DJ McKinney and Preston Hodge into roles at corner — and now the Buffs have three quality defensive backs in those spots who can perform multiple tasks.
“I sleep a little bit better,” Livingston said of knowing he has Hunter as a mainstay in CU’s defensive backs quiver. “Preston and DJ have the ability to move around. When you have three corners, you can move around. Hopefully as coaches you look a lot smarter.”
The Buffs also have experience at the safety spot in Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and Shilo Sanders as well as some newcomers.
“We’re deep,” Livingston said. “There are guys here that are backups that could be stars in some places. And I think there’s great leadership. Early in camp, that’s what you want to see. Who are the leaders? We talk about being a player-driven team, show me. We’ve got phenomenal leadership, starting with Cam, DJ and Preston. They’re about the right stuff. You don’t worry about them. They’re just great kids and I think that’s what my biggest thing here is, we got a bunch of great guys.”
But Livingston’s eyes stretch much farther than just the secondary. He knows CU has to be much improved up front. Colorado’s run defense and pass rush struggled last year — and the Buffs made numerous moves there to improve. Along with adding an impressive list of transfers, Colorado also made changes in the coaching staff.
Now, the Buffs have Vincent Dancy coaching defensive ends, Damione Lewis heading up the interior line and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp working as a graduate assistant with the defensive line.
“The D-line coaches do a phenomenal job,” Livingston said. “Coach Sapp, Coach Lewis, Coach Dancy — I can’t speak enough about those guys. They are truly masters of their craft. And they get those guys going.”
The Buffs are now less than a month away from the Aug. 29 season opener against North Dakota State at Folsom Field (6 p.m., ESPN). Players are no doubt anxious to hit the field and begin to erase the memory of last year’s 4-8 finish that included six straight losses to end the season.
“I think we’re chomping at the bit,” Livingston said. “Again, it’s the third day of camp. It is what it is. But I know when I look in the eyeballs of the guys that we have, they kind of still feel last year. They want to prove who they can be. I’ve seen it from the time I got here.”
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Story by Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com. Content courtesy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.