The Colorado Buffaloes have seen a jolt of life on defense under new defensive coordinator Chris Marve. He was promoted to the role from linebackers coach after former defensive coordinator Robert Livingston left for a job in the NFL midway through the offseason.
He’s still serving in his role as the linebackers coach, though, which has allowed assistant linebackers coach Andre’ Hart to work closely with him during the offseason. In his Tuesday press conference, Hart spoke highly of the work Marve has done and testified to the jolt of energy he’s given the program.
What Andre’ Hart Likes About Chris Marve as a Coach
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Although Hart gave an effort to respect Marve’s humility when asked about him, he still listed a number of things that make him stand out as a coach and as a person.
“I know he doesn’t like a lot of compliments, but he’s a leader of men,” Hart said. “He really is. Like he came in with a plan; he understood exactly what he wanted to get done. And then he involved us in it.”
It has seemed like coach Deion Sanders likely knew Livingston’s departure was on the horizon, as Marve had seemingly been prepared to take over the role in advance. He’s adapted to it more than smoothly, especially for picking up the job in the middle of the offseason. Hart spoke to Marve’s mental process around the game and how it has elevated the staff around him.
“Like we all have skin in the game; we have input. He’s very detailed. He knows what he wants, and then he gets a lot of us in practice, too . . . We run to the ball, like, I’m getting in shape, it’s helping me out, I’m gonna look like one of these players in a minute. I’m getting it down,” Hart said.
How Chris Marve Has Given the Colorado Buffaloes a Jolt of Energy
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The energy Marve has brought to practice has served as a major burst of life for his players. He’s an intense coach and essentially a 180 from what the Buffaloes had with Livingston in the role last season. Livingston was a gameplan guy who relied on the scheme to give his players the extra edge.
For Marve, he relies on the mentality he ingrains in his players to get that edge. As an example of how hands-on Marve has been, when asked about where he will be standing on gamedays in his Monday press conference, Sanders kept it short and sweet.
“Down on the field, guys. My guys are not up-top guys. But we’ve got some very intelligent guys up top,” Sanders said.
Hart has seen that in practice as well. Marve has been having his staff participate in practice alongside the players to bring up the intensity level and set the standard.
“So just the whole thing, tempo’s up in practice, the energy is different, the coaches are involved. Like it feels like I’m actually playing the game. Like I’m actually practicing. I’m chasing down linemen trying to beat them to the ball,” Hart said. “So to do that, it just puts another inch on that level of how you want to play. When I talked about play style, it just puts another level to it. ‘Hey man, coach is doing it, you can do it too. I can’t be the last one.’ So it’s really good. I love it.”
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