Colorado football DC Robert Livingston deemed an MVP as a player by his college coach
Bob Shoop, Colorado football defensive coordinator Robert Livingston's defensive coordinator's college coach, called Coach Prime's unsung hire the MVP of Shoop's William and Mary Tribe defense during Livingston's playing career from 2006 to 2009 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
“He may not have been the best player on the defense, but you could make a case he was the most valuable player on that defense,” Shoop said (h/t BuffZone). “He was a good tackler, he could play the game, and he was a guy who was very confident in his ability. … He was very passionate and enjoyed playing the game as much as any player I’ve been around.”
What made Livingston elite? The very same traits that you want your defensive coordinator to have.
“He spent every bit as much time in the film room as any of the coaches on the staff,” Shoop added. “I mean, you could just see that his passion was for the game of football. When they talk about a coach on the field, he embodied all that stuff. He not only knew what he was doing, he knew what the other 10 players on the defense’s responsibilities were on every single play.
“It was very evident that when (playing) football did expire for him that he was going to pursue a career in football in some way, shape or form.”
Coach Prime made more popular Colorado football defensive coordinator hire than at offensive coordinator
Pat Shurmur's promotion/Sean Lewis's demotion to co-offensive coordinators midway through the 2023 season was deemed by some as a mistake, so when he was officially promoted to full-time OC, many Buffs fans were left disappointed about the possibilities.
Livingston's hire was one many waited to react to, but once they found out about his body of work with the Cincinnati Bengals, he was almost unanimously deemed a good hire.
Deion Sanders hasn't made every right decision since becoming head coach of the Buffs in December 2022, but Livingston could prove to be one of them. And if Shedeur Sanders likes the routes Shurmur's pro-style offense entails, unlike what he thought about Lewis's offense, then perhaps the Shurmur hire will be popular too.