As Denver Sports' Jake Shapiro relayed, Colorado football defensive coordinator hire Robert Livingston likely has a strong endorsement from one of the best defensive backs in Buffs history, Chidobe Awuzie, who played under Livingston for the Cincinnati Bengals.
"The best Colorado connection for Livingston may be the premier player he’s coached the past few seasons, Chidobe Awuzie," Shapiro prefaced before saying, "Chido was one of the best defensive backs in Buffs history so can he can vouch for the DC his alumni are getting, led by one of the best cornerbacks of all-time in Sanders."
Livingston, while far from a headline name at this point in his career, comes to Colorado with a specific focus in the secondary. Coach Prime has spent most of his recruiting focus on the cornerback position and to a lesser extent the safety position, so this hire appears meant to highlight the defense's greatest strengths.
Colorado football coordinator hires meant to prop up Shedeur and Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter before NFL
Coach Prime has now seen what a hiring cycle could do to a coaching staff even after a 4-8 season following a red-hot start. Sean Lewis was scooped up by San Diego State to be their head coach even after a midseason demotion, and Charles Kelly ended up back at his alma mater, Auburn, despite letting Wazzu hang 56 on his unit in his second-to-last outing overseeing CU's defense.
It's possible that offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Livingston were brought on as temporary options by design, each tasked with getting Deion Sanders' three closest players, his son Shedeur at QB, his other son Shilo at safety, and his highest-rated recruit ever, Travis Hunter, at CB, as high as possible on 2025 NFL draft boards.
Livingston is a far hotter coaching commodity than Shurmur, so he figures to be the one more schools will be scouting to poach away. Still, it's possible both are one-year (one and a half years in Shurmur's case) mercenaries designed to prop up the Sanders brothers and Hunter before the NFL.