Chris Wilson is happy with his transition to coaching OLBs

BOULDER — Chris Wilson has a new job this season, but he doesn’t feel much difference.

“Once you’re a ball coach, you’re a ball coach,” Wilson said.

Wilson joined Colorado’s staff in 2020 as the team’s defensive line coach. the next year, he added the defensive coordinator title. This season, he’ll retain his defensive coordinator role but will coach outside linebackers instead of defensive linemen.

He wanted to make the change for several reasons but one is this: the linebackers connect the defensive front to the backend of the defense. By coaching linebackers, Wilson has his hand in the run fits up front while also having more influence on the coverage schemes on a day-to-day basis.

“It has given me a little bit more positional flexibility and a chance to walk around and work with every position to an extent,” he told reporters on Monday. “It really has been a benefit. I think that’s the benefit of the new staff and the new roles.”

There’s another reason he wanted to make the change though: He thinks the linemen need more attention.

“That’s a high-priority position and bouncing around is not always easy on it,” Wilson said.

The idea makes sense; the game starts in the trenches and builds out from there. If an offense can run on you, it’s going to do that all game.

Colorado’s defensive line was very solid last season but, if Wilson is correct, they could take a step forward just because their coach won’t have his attention split into two places. Plus, they didn’t lose any important pieces from last seasons group so your standard year-to-year growth should build on top of that.

The experience, talent and depth along the defensive line are part of the reason the Buffs are expected to be using more of a 4-3 defense in 2022.

“Every year is a new team,” Wilson said. “Last year we had a couple of linebackers that played a lot of football and have the ability, hopefully, to play at the next level. So (the defense) was structured around them. Every year is a new team and you try to complement your best guys and right now we’ve got a good group up front, a veteran group of guys up front. So that was the best move for us moving forward.”

With Wilson moving to the linebackers, new defensive line coach Gerald Chatman will take over the defensive line responsibilities.

Chatman, 33, has previous experience as an assistant front-seven coach with the Cincinnati Bengals and was briefly the defensive line coach at Tulane before taking the CU job. He spent last season as a defensive analyst at LSU.

“He’s a really good teacher, builds really good relationships with the players,” Wilson said of Chatman. “Once they know you care, they’ll let you coach ’em. He’s done a really good job of doing that. Not only that he just brings extensive background knowledge from the NFL and being in the SEC at LSU… He’s able to take some of the things that we’re doing here and improve them.”

While football season feels eons away, in some ways it’s not that far at all. Only two practices remain before Colorado’s Spring Showcase on Saturday, and then the Buffs will have 25 practices in the fall before the start of the season.

The biggest concern for Wilson is cutting down the explosive plays from a year ago.

“There are a lot of positive things,” Wilson said of his defense’s 2021 campaign. “But the things that broke down were glaring. We can just eliminate a few of those explosives, we’ll become a better football team exponentially.”

The countdown is on.