Colorado football: Buffs officially announce coaching staff hires – The Denver Post

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders and his coaching staff might need a bit of time to adjust to living in Boulder, but a lot of them won’t have to learn to work together.

On Tuesday, CU officially announced several members of Sanders’ staff and many of them are coming with him from Jackson State. Sanders was introduced as CU’s head coach on Dec. 4 after three seasons with Jackson State.

Of the nine on-field assistants announced Tuesday, five are coming from JSU: Brett Bartolone (receivers), Tim Brewster (tight ends), Gary Harrell (assistant head coach/running backs), Andre Hart (linebackers) and Kevin Mathis (cornerbacks). CU also announced that Dennis Thurman, Jackson State’s defensive coordinator the past three years, will be a director of quality control for defense with the Buffs.

Related Articles

• 
  Keeler: CSU football coach Jay Norvell on National Signing Day and sharing Colorado with Deion Sanders? “We’re going to want to beat CU, whomever the coach is.”

• 
  CU Buffs’ head coach Deion Sanders prepares for first signing day

• 
  Colorado football recruiting: Buffs add two transfers, 3-star WR to commit list

• 
  Colorado football: Buffs reel in West Virginia transfer, three-star linebacker

• 
  Ferris State beats Colorado School of Mines to win 2nd straight NCAA Division II title

In addition, CU announced the hires of Charles Kelly (defensive coordinator/safeties), Sean Lewis (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Bill O’Boyle (offensive line) and Nick Williams (defensive ends).

Most of the staff additions have been reported by BuffZone over the past couple of weeks, but weren’t announced by CU until Tuesday. CU is still in the process of finalizing its defensive line coach.

A look at the newcomers:

Charles Kelly: Associate defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Alabama the past four seasons. Prior to that, he was the special teams coordinator and safeties coach at Tennessee (2018) and worked at Florida State for five seasons (2013-17), including the last four as the Seminoles’ defensive coordinator. Was a part of national championship teams at Alabama (2020) and Florida State (2013). He has also coached at Auburn, Jacksonville State, Henderson State, Nicholls State and Georgia Tech.

Sean Lewis: Head coach at Kent State the last five seasons, going 24-31. Former tight end at Wisconsin, he’s coached at Nebraska-Omaha, Akron, Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green and Syracuse. Was co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Bowling Green (2015) and had the same role at Syracuse (2016-17) before going to Kent State.

Brett Bartolone: JSU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this year after two seasons as an analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach at Nevada. Has also coached at Carleton College (2018-19, OC/QBs), St. Lawrence University (2017, QBs) and Whittier College (2016, receivers) and was a student assistant at Washington State.

Tim Brewster: Coached JSU’s tight ends this year after two seasons working with tight ends at Florida. Former head coach at Minnesota (2007-10) and tight ends coach for the Denver Broncos (2005-06). Has also worked at North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi State, Florida State, Texas A&M, Florida and with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers.

Gary Harrell: Running backs coach at JSU the past three years. Head coach at Howard for five seasons (2011-12, 2014-16), going 20-36. Has also been an assistant at Howard, Florida A&M, Morgan State, Bowie State, Florida Atlanta and Alabama State.

Andre Hart: Spent the past three seasons coaching linebackers at JSU. Prior to that, coached with Sanders at Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas. Hart was the head coach at Trinity for three seasons, leading them to three straight TAPPS state titles. Has more than a dozen years of coaching experience.

Kevin Mathis: Coached defensive backs at JSU the past three years and coached with Sanders at Trinity, as the defensive coordinator. He and Sanders were teammates with the Dallas Cowboys from 1997-99. Mathis also played for the New Orleans Saints (2000-01) and Atlanta Falcons (2002-06).

Bill O’Boyle: At Kent State the past five years, coached offensive line and had titles of assistant head coach and run game coordinator. Before Kent, he coached O-line at South Dakota (2016-17) and Southern Illinois (2013-15) and was offensive coordinator at Colorado Mesa (2012). Worked at Chadron State from 1994-2011, including as offensive coordinator (1999-2004) and head coach (2005-11), going 57-21.

Dennis Thurman: Defensive coordinator at Jackson State the past three seasons. He’s also coached at USC (1993-2000) and 17 years in the NFL, including as defensive coordinator of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. As a player he was a two-time All-American safety at USC and nine-year NFL veteran.

Nick Williams: Analyst at Texas A&M the past two seasons, working with the defensive line. A former defensive back at Georgia, Williams worked as a student assistant and graduate assistant for three seasons at his alma mater before going to A&M. With the Bulldogs, he helped to coach the defensive line while building a reputation as a top recruiter.

Although not announced yet by CU, Maurice Sims is joining the Buffs as the strength and conditioning coordinator, per a video posted by Well Off Media, which is produced by Deion Sanders Jr. Sims was the strength and conditioning coordinator at JSU this season after two seasons (2020-21) as the associate director of strength and conditioning at Georgia, helping the Bulldogs to the 2021 national title. Has also worked at North Carolina, Army, Indiana, North Carolina A&T, Bethune-Cookman and Tennessee.

It has also been previously reported that Vincent Dancy, a JSU alum and the head coach at Mississippi Valley State the past five seasons, will be an analyst with the Buffs.

Three other JSU assistants have posted on social media that they are joining the staff: Mike Markuson, Michael Pollock and Rashad Davis. Markuson was JSU’s offensive line coach the past three years. Pollock was special assistant to the head coach this season after two years as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Davis was an assistant with the Tigers, as well.

CU legend Darian Hagan is the only coach from the previous staff staying with the Buffs. Hagan coached the Buffs’ running backs the past seven seasons but will have an undetermined support role going forward.

Source: Read Full Article