Deion Sanders has been making some big splashes since he took over as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team. Now it appears that he’s been able to get one of Nick Saban’s assistants to head west with him.
Despite reports earlier in the day that former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer would become Sanders‘ defensive coordinator at Colorado, that role is actually going to Alabama associate defensive coordinator Charles Kelly.
Kelly is a highly decorated assistant coach who has worked for some pretty big programs and has been part of multiple championships. While the 55-year-old has been Alabama’s associate defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the last four years, he previously held the DC role at Florida State, Nicholls State, Henderson State, and Jacksonville State. He’s also worked on the Tennessee, Georgia Tech, and Auburn staff. He helped Florida State win the national championship in 2013 and Alabama in 2020.
Sanders appears to be putting together a solid staff and is putting his stamp on the Colorado program right away, for better or worse. The expectations for the Buffs to compete in the Pac-12 are going to grow pretty quickly. We’ll see how they’re able to try and meet them.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.