Deion Sanders didn’t hide his excitement when the subject turned to Gideon Lampron on Friday.
The Colorado coach spent time praising one of the Buffaloes’ top incoming transfers from the offseason, and his message was clear: Lampron has already made a strong impression.
“Gideon has exceeded expectations. Gideon is not just a dawg, he’s a bonafide leader.
He’s a playmaker. He’s a guy that loves to practice.
Loves the game,” Sanders said. “Shows affection to his teammates and to get them up and getting them going and patting them on the back.
Not selfish. Very unselfish.”
Lampron arrives in Boulder as a 6-0, 220-pound linebacker heading into his fifth season of college football. His path started at Dayton in 2022, where he played through the 2024 season and posted 150 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.
After that, he moved on to Bowling Green for the 2025 season and put together another productive year: 119 combined tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass defended. When that season ended, he entered the portal as a three-star transfer.
Sanders also shared the story of how Lampron first landed on his radar. He said he was on a plane when a kid walked by, introduced himself and said he was in the portal. That kid was Lampron.
From there, Sanders reached out to Colorado director of player personnel Darius Darden-Box to learn more. Lampron eventually visited Boulder, and the Buffaloes brought him in soon after.
He’s one of 43 incoming players Colorado added through the portal during a major offseason roster overhaul. The flip side was just as dramatic: 36 players left the program in 2025.
Colorado is trying to rebound from a 3-9 season in 2025, a year that left the Buffaloes out of a bowl game for the second time in three seasons under Sanders. Since taking over in 2023, Sanders is 16-21 at Colorado.
That makes 2026 a pivotal year for the Buffaloes and their coach. Another season like 2025 would bring real questions about whether bigger changes are needed.
Colorado also enters the new season with fresh faces on both sides of the ball. Brennan Marion, who coached Sacramento State for one season in 2025 and led the Hornets to a 7-5 record while their offense averaged 33.8 points per game, is the new offensive coordinator.
On defense, Chris Marve takes over as coordinator after first being hired this offseason as linebackers coach. He was elevated when former defensive coordinator Robert Livingston left for the NFL and a job as an assistant with the Denver Broncos. Marve served as Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator from 2022-2024.
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