“He Wanted to Play NFL Style of Defense”: Former CFB HC Reveals Why Coach Prime Was Adamant to Hire Robert Livingston

Deion Sanders’ hiring of Robert Livingston was nothing less than a shocker for the NCAA landscape. A 33-year-old guy with no experience handling the whole defense line seemed like a perfect fit for Deion Sanders. The former Bengal staffer came in with just eight years of experience at the franchise and stints as a quality control analyst at some universities. But who would have thought everything Livingston picked up in those eight years at the Bengals would make him the defensive coach of Deion Sanders‘ team?

The NFL-level understanding of how defenses worked and an electric thrill to translate it into a college program was the ask. Livingston was all in. “Coach Prime was adamant that he wanted somebody from the National Football League. He wanted to play the NFL style of defense. He wanted to be at a match-up NFL coaches understand about positional match and schematic match is,” Reed explained in the Pregame Network show what Deion Sanders was expecting out of his candidates in February.

The reason Coach Prime hired Livingston was not just that he was from the NFL; Livingston had extensive knowledge about the drills. Livingston came prepared with a foolproof presentation on how he would fuse NFL defense in college kids. “He had an excellent interview. His presentation was tight, his drills were tight,” Reed said, praising the efforts of Livingston for the interview. The sheer determination and all the homework Livingston had put in for the interview showed through. However, that was not the only reason Deion Sanders agreed to it.

Another reason Deion Sanders said yes to Robert Livingston

The decision to bring in Livingston was a response to a pressing issue: a defense that had allowed an average of 34.8 points per game in 2023. This was a serious concern that required immediate attention. Deion Sanders needed someone with a resolute commitment to turn the CU defense around. Livingston, with his comprehensive understanding of NFL defense, presented a detailed and foolproof plan. He outlined how he would adapt NFL strategies to the college level, offering a promising solution to the team’s defensive woes.

“He had a full plan on how he was going to install it, how he was going to teach it, how he was going to prepare his position coach to be able to install it and teach it as well,” Reed further added. That was the selling point for Deion Sanders. Hence came the rounding off of CU staff with Robert Livingston as the defensive coach, Pat Shurmur handling the O-line, and Jason Phillips working with the receivers. With a revamped staff and an even more revamped roster with all the transfers, how do you think Colorado will perform this season?