During spring practice, Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders had to leave the team for two to three days with blood clots.
But despite Coach Prime’s absence, the Buffaloes didn’t miss a step as their coordinators took over as they neared the spring game.
Coach Prime’s comments
When Coach Prime shared the details of his hospital visit, the new-look staff displayed its unity by immediately volunteering to pray for him.
“I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got to go in,’” Sanders said. “…First thing they said was, ‘Coach, let me pray for you.’ That’s the kind of men who are standing beside me, and I am blessed and happy to have them. They have exceeded any expectation I may have had.”
In the time that offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and defensive coordinator Chris Marve were running the team, things operated like a “well-oiled machine,” according to Coach Prime.
“They are really detailed,” Sanders said. “The best gift that I believe they have is not just the X’s and O’s, it’s how they relate to their players. We have a situation now where these kids aren’t just coming and desiring to play for me.”
Both coordinators have brought new life to the team, creating further recruiting incentive beyond Coach Prime’s pedigree.
Brennan Marion
Marion arrived in Boulder on Dec. 5 after being named to the offensive coordinator position. He came to the Buffs by way of Sacramento State, where he was the head coach in 2025.
Marion’s career has been a story of promotions, as each new job he’s taken has been a step up from the last. He coached at the high school and JUCO levels from 2011 to 2014, before taking a quality control analyst job at Arizona State.
He continued rising up the ranks, taking jobs at Oklahoma Baptist, Howard and William & Mary as a running backs coach and offensive coordinator before returning to the FBS level.
He made stops at Hawaii, Pittsburgh and Texas as a receivers coach before taking the offensive coordinator job at UNLV in 2023. All of that led him to Sacramento State in 2025 before he ended up at Colorado.
He brought his unique ‘Go-Go’ offense with him through all of it. The scheme is up-tempo and utilizes massive creativity and plenty of triple-options. That scheme is what landed him the role at Colorado, and he implemented it to major success in CU’s spring game.
Chris Marve
Msu Football Media Day | Keith Warren, Keith Warren via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Marve hasn’t had the same length of time as a coach, but he’s experienced plenty of success in that time.
He began as an assistant at his alma mater, Vanderbilt, from 2014 to 2018. After his time on the Vanderbilt staff, he traveled across the SEC to join the Mississippi State Bulldogs as their linebackers coach.
He spent just one season with the Bulldogs before taking the same role at Florida State. After two seasons with the Seminoles, he took his first defensive coordinator position at Virginia Tech.
In his last season with the Hokies in 2024, his unit allowed the third-fewest points per game in the ACC. He took a year away from football in 2025 to gear up for an even better 2026 season.
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