Josh Niblett didn’t leave a powerhouse Alabama high school job and a pile of state titles just to stay comfortable.
After building one of the most decorated prep résumés in Alabama history - seven state championships, including six at Hoover High School, plus two more state title game appearances in four seasons at Gainesville (Ga.) High School - he could have kept doing what he’d always done. Instead, he took a different road and landed at Colorado, where he was hired in January as the Buffs’ tight ends coach.
The move brought a new challenge, a new staff and a new boss in Deion Sanders.
“I love humidity, because I love to sweat,” said Niblett, hired in January as CU’s tight ends coach. “That’s probably the biggest difference for me.
People here are awesome. I work for an unbelievable man who’s an unbelievable coach and mentor and leader that’s given me this opportunity.
Our staff is unbelievable. Our players want to be coached.
When you’re in that kind of environment, and you’re around people who love to win and love each other, you come to work every day and this is a ‘get to’ moment and not a ‘have to’ moment. And I’ve enjoyed that.
“I miss my family, no doubt. My wife and kids are still back in Georgia.
That’s probably the hardest part. But I’m surrounded by some really good people.”
At Colorado, the tight end position hasn’t been a major piece of the offense under Sanders, but that could change with new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. If it does, veteran Zach Atkins looks positioned to matter.
Now in his second season at CU after transferring from Northwest Missouri State, Atkins had 20 catches for 149 yards last season. Niblett said Tuesday stood out for him.
“I’m excited about (Atkins). He probably had his best practice (Tuesday),” Niblett said.
“He had some touchdown catches, but he also did the dirty work he needed to do in the core, and make sure he’s doing a really good job of being a dominant blocker on the perimeter. I’m proud of his progress, as well as some other guys in our room.”
On the other side of the ball, Andre Gurode is trying to restore some old-school bite to Colorado’s offensive line room.
Gurode played for the Buffs during an era when the program regularly produced NFL-ready linemen, and he wants that edge back. He was a second-round pick in 2002, the same draft that saw his CU teammate Victor Rogers go in the seventh round.
Since then, the pipeline has thinned. Over the past 13 NFL drafts, Colorado has had just two offensive linemen selected: Arlington Hambright in the seventh round in 2020 and Will Sherman in the sixth round in 2021.
Now in his second year as one of CU’s offensive line coaches, Gurode says the message is simple and blunt.
“Rule No. 1 when I got here was if you don’t fight, you can’t play,” Gurode said. “You got to find someone to fight first in practice.
We instilled that in our guys to work hard, to be dependable, to ask for the pressure and not complain. We don’t need complaining.
We need execution, and that’s what we’re trying to focus on.”
Colorado’s roster also has a little more international flavor than some might expect. Punters Damon Greaves and the men’s basketball team’s Goc Malual and Alex Dickeson made the connection the easy way: by hearing each other’s accents.
Greaves, who said he was “yapping away” in an elevator, realized he was riding with Malual, one of two men’s basketball players who joined CU this summer from Australia.
“I knew we had two Aussies. I didn’t know what they looked like,” Greaves said.
“He was like, ‘You an Aussie?’ We got to know each other through that.
I’ll try to meet the other Aussie there as well. There’s certainly a few more Aussies around here than there were at (Kansas).”
CU has two other Australian athletes on campus as well: women’s basketball center Jade Crook and skier Hugo Hinckfuss.
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Deion Sanders is already setting the tone for Colorados 2026 buildup, and the early signs around Boulder have him feeling good about where the program stands as the calendar turns toward next season. The Buffaloes have gone through another major reset, with a wave of roster movement and some notable coaching adjustments, including Brennan Marion stepping in as offensive coordinator and Chris Marve being elevated to defensive coordinator.
For a team trying to rebuild its identity while keeping pace in a changing Big 12 landscape, every practice matters, and Sanders outlook offers an early glimpse at the confidence he wants around the program. Colorado still has a long way to go before its Sept. 3 opener against Georgia Tech, but the head coachs message suggests the Buffaloes like the direction theyre heading as the new pieces start to come together. [Read more 🡒]
Colorados New Offense Is Bringing Back A Role Fans Missed
Brennan Marions arrival as Colorados incoming offensive coordinator is already changing the conversation around what this offense can look like. His Go-Go system leans into a style that has nearly vanished from college football, and one of the most noticeable pieces is the return of the fullback, a role that has long carried a little extra nostalgia for Buffaloes fans who remember when it was part of the programs offensive identity.
The interest is not just about old-school flavor, either. Colorados staff is sorting through how the new scheme fits personnel, with tight ends coach Josh Niblett helping shape the transition as the Buffs build out the plan. For a fan base that has watched the fullback fade away from the modern game, the idea of bringing it back adds a layer of intrigue to spring and summer camp, even if the real answer to how it will look on Saturdays is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]