Chris Marve is keeping his defense close for Colorado’s opener.
When the Buffaloes face Georgia Tech on Thursday, Marve will handle play-calling from the sideline instead of the coaching booth, a decision he said comes down less to convention and more to what actually works for him. He pointed to research that showed little difference in success rate depending on whether the play caller is upstairs or on the field, then made it clear where he’s most comfortable.
“So if we zoom out, kind of look at the macro, there was a study done in terms of a success rate of a defense or offense if the play caller’s in the booth or on the field. And what that study demonstrated was that it’s negligible.
So it’s based on the individual, where they are,” Marve said. “In my career, I would say 80 to 85 percent of the time I’ve been on the field.
And the times that I was in the booth, I was knocking coffee over, so I need to be down on the field.”
That choice matches the way Marve has coached for most of his career. He ran Virginia Tech’s defense from 2022 through 2024, and in 2023 the Hokies finished in the top 20 nationally in total defense while tying for 10th in the country with 39 sacks.
His path to Boulder took a winding turn in 2025. Marve stepped away from college coaching to intern with the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams and to visit college programs before joining Deion Sanders’ staff as linebackers coach. Sanders then moved him in February after Robert Livingston left for a defensive pass game coordinator job with the Denver Broncos.
Now Marve takes over a unit that was gashed a year ago, when Colorado allowed 425.7 yards per game, the most in the Big 12. The first challenge comes against a Georgia Tech offense that already showed it can lean on the run. In last year’s 27-20 win at Folson Field, the Yellow Jackets ran 47 times for 320 yards, and head coach Brent Key still wants that identity to travel with Michigan transfer running back Justice Haynes.
Colorado’s staff knows exactly where the pressure point is. Assistant linebackers coach Andre’ Hart said the focus is on getting the defense lined up and communicating cleanly before the ball is snapped.
“Elite communication and smooth operations,” Hart said. “They have a great running game; they do a lot with their formations and their systems there. So elite communication and smooth operations.”
One complication for Marve is that he did not give up his position group when he became coordinator. He’s still in charge of the defense and still coaching the linebackers, a room built around Bowling Green transfer Gideon Lampron, Texas transfer Lional Lefau, and New Mexico State transfer Tyler Martinez.
Sanders has said he has three pros in that room. Staying on the sideline keeps Marve right where those players are, rather than separating him from them in the booth.
The defense has already started to reflect his fingerprints. Cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis said Marve has shaped the group around what his players do well instead of trying to force them into a rigid system, and safety Ben Finneseth said the installation has been repeated enough that the calls are no longer a distraction for the players.
Lampron described the identity Marve is trying to build in direct terms.
“Coming from Coach Marve, it’s establishing our identity - being fast and relentless and playing very physical,” Lampron said. “That’s the way he wants us to play.”
For Marve, though, the clearest reason is the simplest one. He wants to be able to see his linebackers up close and talk to them in real time.
“But, man, on the serious note, what I enjoy and what I think is necessary in particular for the linebacker position is I have to look those guys in the eyes,” Marve said. “I have to see what they see. I have to be able to talk to them in a way that I understand what they’re feeling.”
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Georgia Tech Offense Faces An Early Test After Colorados Bold Confidence
Colorado is not hiding its confidence heading into Week 1, and much of it starts with the way the Buffaloes have spent camp preparing for Georgia Tech. Linebacker Gideon Lampron said the defense has benefited from working against offensive coordinator Brennan Marions fast-moving Go-Go offense, a style that has forced the unit to get sharper about fits, communication and handling a run game that can stress a defense in a hurry. On top of that, Colorado has been installing a new scheme under coordinator Chris Marve, with the emphasis clearly on playing together and closing down the ground game.
For Georgia Tech, that makes the opener an early measuring stick for an offense that will be facing a defense eager to prove its offseason work has real teeth. Lampron also sounded genuinely fired up about making his first game for Colorado, which only adds to the sense that the Buffaloes are treating this one like more than a first-week tune-up. The unanswered question is whether that confidence and all that camp prep will carry over once the lights come on against a Yellow Jackets attack that will test the new-look defense right away. [Read more 🡒]
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For Georgia Tech, the intrigue cuts both ways. The Yellow Jackets are getting a first look at Mendoza in a setting that has long asked its quarterbacks to be part of the run game, and the matchup now comes with the added wrinkle of Colorados new Go-Go offense, which also puts a premium on quarterback movement. In a game where both sides are adjusting around young or unfamiliar passers, the early script may hinge less on reputation than on who handles the uncertainty better. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Techs New Offense Faces An Immediate Test Against Colorado
Georgia Techs season opener will also be the first public look at a new offensive direction, with a fresh coordinator and a scheme built around a more pro-style, under-center quarterback approach. The Yellow Jackets plan to lean on a high volume of plays and a mix of formations, a combination meant to keep Colorado guessing and to give the offense enough variety to settle in early.
Alberto Mendoza is at the center of it all in his first official start, and the challenge goes beyond simply running the plays. His job will include managing pre-snap reads and checks, the kind of details that can determine whether a new system feels smooth or rushed in its first test. For Georgia Tech, the opener is less about proving the whole thing works right away than seeing how quickly the structure holds up when the bullets start flying. [Read more 🡒]