Ten names to watch for Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders and Colorado's defensive coordinator search

Days before the calendar flipped over to 2024, Buff Nation was hit with the news that defensive coordinator Charles Kelly would be leaving Colorado after only one season. With Kelly headed back home to the south to join the Auburn Tiger’s coaching staff, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders will have to replace not only his defensive coordinator but one of his most effective recruiters also.

I talked to Coach Prime this morning about Defensive Coordinator Charles Kelly moving on to Auburn. This was something that they both agreed upon. Coach Prime is always for his coaches making the moves they feel are best for their careers and their family.

But the Defensive… pic.twitter.com/8qNkfzYnzm

— Carl Reed Jr. (@CoachReedLive) December 30, 2023

247 Sports college football analyst Carl Reed kicked off the speculation over who Coach Prime’s hire would be shortly after it was reported that Kelly would be leaving CU. Reed mentioned Coach Prime’s “commitment to providing an NFL atmosphere” being the inspiration behind the hire resulting in the ten names below who fit the criteria.

Lovie Smith

Lovie Smith spent 2023 away from the game after the Houston Texans fired him after only one season as their head coach. Before his stop in Houston, Smith was the head coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears. Toward the end of his tenure at the University of Illinois, Smith relied on the transfer portal to fill out his roster and brought in 15 players via the transfer portal in 2019 (2nd most in the country).

Smith was a linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2000 under Tony Dungy and helped create the Tampa 2 defense. Before Smith joined the Buccaneers in 1996 he coached for six different FBS programs including Ohio State, Tennessee and Wisconsin going back to 1983. While it may not have worked out for him as a head coach after his nine-year stint in Chicago, Smith has the NFL, college football and recruiting qualifications to be Colorado’s defensive coordinator.

Mike Zimmer

After an eight-year run as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer joined Coach Prime’s staff as an analyst for the 2022 season. Throughout the process of building last year’s staff, Coach Prime said Zimmer would be joining the staff at any moment but Zimmer ended up spending the last year away from the game. His nephew, Andrew Zimmer, joined Colorado’s coaching staff in 2023 as a graduate assistant after serving as an analyst for Jackson State in 2022.

On December 26th, Zimmer appeared on The Insiders with NFL insider Tom Pelissero and stated his desire to return to coaching. Given that the NFL regular season ended on Sunday, Zimmer could be taking his chances at rejoining the NFL but his prior history with Coach Prime has him near the top of the list.

Jim Leonhard

Jim Leonhard’s coaching career has been on the fast track since was hired as Wisconsin’s defensive backs coach in 2016. He became the defensive coordinator for his alma mater the next season and held that role until he was promoted to interim head coach after Paul Chryst was fired in 2022. Leonhard was the leading candidate to be named head coach for the Badgers until it was announced Wisconsin had hired Luke Fickell.

Leonhard was hired by Illinois and head coach Brett Bielema as a senior football analyst for the 2023 season. He is one of the most talked about names regarding multiple vacant coaching positions around the country. Leonhard is a 10-year NFL vet and played for the Denver Broncos and six other NFL teams from 2005-2014.

Ken Norton Jr.

Ken Norton Jr. has spent the last two years under Chip Kelly as UCLA’s linebackers coach after stints with the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders as their defensive coordinator. Norton Jr. was an All-American linebacker at UCLA in 1987 and played in the NFL for 13 years in Dallas and San Francisco. Coach Prime and Norton played together in San Francisco and won the Super Bowl in 1994. He was a highly decorated football player and won the National Championship in 2004 as USC’s linebackers coach.

Ahead of Colorado’s matchup with UCLA in late October, Coach Prime shared his admiration for his former teammate. “[UCLA’s linebackers] play just like their coach,” said Coach Prime. “I’m proud of Ken, I played with him for a year, he was phenomenal. He was one of the best. I just have fond memories, I don’t know why he’s not a head coach. I don’t know if he’s been given the opportunity but I know he’s been a coordinator before, I know he’s been a myriad of things. To me, Ken Norton should be a head coach somewhere.”

Dennis Thurman

Dennis Thurman was Coach Prime’s defensive coordinator at Jackson State from 2020 to 2022. When Colorado hired Coach Prime, Thurman followed him to Boulder and became CU’s Director of Quality Control-Defense. When Coach Prime came out of retirement to play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2004, Thurman was his defensive backs coach.

Thurman played in the NFL from 1978 to 1986 for the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Cardinals. Shortly after his playing career ended, Thurman’s coaching career began. He has over 30 years of coaching experience and was the defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator for the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills under Rex Ryan. Thurman would be an easy and seamless hire for Coach Prime but it would be an underwhelming hire considering the build-up behind the announcement.

Ed Reed

The strength of Ed Reed and Coach Prime’s relationship was made abundantly clear last off-season. Bethune-Cookman had hired Reed to be their head coach and then weeks later declined to ratify Reed’s contract and vacated the team’s head coaching position. One of the greatest safeties to ever play the game, Reed started his coaching career in 2016 as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. He then returned to the University of Miami to serve as the Hurricanes’ Chief of Staff from 2020 to 2021 and senior football advisor in 2022. Coach Prime and Reed were teammates in Baltimore during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Although he lacks the ideal coaching experience to be Colorado’s defensive coordinator, Reed would be a risky yet game-changing hire. Coach Prime has already announced that Hall of Famer Warren Sapp will be joining the coaching staff in some capacity, could another gold jacket be on the way in Reed?

Charlie Strong

Following Louisville’s 12-1 season in 2013, Charlie Strong was one of the hottest names on the coaching carousel and was hired to be the head coach at Texas. After three seasons in Austin, Strong was fired but was quickly hired to be the head coach at South Florida. After three years at USF, Strong was fired and he has since coached as an assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Hurricanes and most recently as a defensive analyst for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Strong has spent most of his coaching years in Florida and Texas and would be a great fit at Colorado given his lengthy experience as a coach and recruiter.

Leslie Frazier

Leslie Frazier spent the 2023 season away from the game after he was let go by the Buffalo Bills after the 2022 season. Most known for his time in Minnesota as the Vikings head coach from 2010 to 2013, since then Frazier has interviewed for five NFL head coaching jobs but has only been hired as a defensive coordinator or secondary coach.

Frazier has not coached in college football since he was Illinois defensive backs coach in 1997 and 1998.

Raheem Morris

Raheem Morris has been the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator since 2021 and will be coaching in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs next weekend. Morris will be one of the most sought-after coaches in the NFL or college ranks once his season concludes. He is another longshot but would be a blockbuster higher for the Buffs. Given the timing of Carl Reed’s tweet, Colorado’s next defensive coordinator could still be coaching.