Tyson Summers is back to coaching linebackers but the secondary is in good hands

BOULDER – The Colorado coaching staff underwent a significant overhaul since the last time the Buffs took the field. The biggest news, of course, was head coach Mel Tucker leaving for Michigan State and Karl Dorrell taking his place in Boulder.

But there were plenty of other changes, with only running backs coach Darian Hagan and outside linebackers coach Brian Michalowski serving in the same role in 2020 as they filled in 2019.

While Tyson Summers is still Colorado’s defensive coordinator, he’s now coaching the inside linebackers rather than the safeties and he told reporters Monday that he’s now where he belongs.

“If you randomly asked me at any point in my career what I coach, I would tell you linebackers,” Summers said. “There have been 100 times when I was coaching the secondary and I told somebody I was coaching the linebackers.”

Summers’ big break came when he was elevated from linebackers coach at UCF to defensive coordinator in 2014. He took over Colorado State’s defesnvie coordinator job in 2015, where he also coached safeties. A two-year stint as head coach at Georgia Southern followed, before he spent two years with Mel Tucker at Georgia.

“It was a great experience being able to go back to (coach) the secondary over the last seven or eight years,” Summers said. “But I really feel like (linebacker) is what my comfort level is.”

Summers added that he can coordinate the defense the best while working with the inside linebackers.

The inside linebackers should be one of the better groups on the roster, anchored by senior star Nate Landman. But question marks exist beyong the top three of Landman, Akil Jones and Jon Van Diest on the depth chart.

“You’ve got a lot of guys that are in that group with (Quinn) Perry, and Marvin Ham and Alec Pell,” Summers said. “Alec is a guy that, about halfway through the season last year, is a local kid that we moved to inside linebacker. And you’ve got a really impressive big guy with Mister Williams. And Ray Robinson is obviously a guy that’s been able to help us, a guy that’s got a lot of length, but a guy that can run and so we’re looking for him to be able to build some support in that room, as well.”

Summers’ focus isn’t just on developing the young guys, though. He said that the top three at inside linebacker are all coming back with a better understanding of Colorado’s system, which may be better-suited to fit them in Year 2.

“We’ve made some adjustments,” Summers said. “We feel like those guys have a better chance to be able to make plays and have a better chance to be able to help us in some of the pass coverage things that we’re asking them to do.”

Despite Summers’ return as defensive coordinator, there will be some changes to the defensive scheme. One such change is that the defensive line will play a one-gap technique rather than a two-gap technique. This switch should help Colorado generate more pressure on early downs, as well as more penetration on running plays. This was an idea that seems to have come from new defensive line coach Chris Wilson.

When asked if Colorado would run more of a “Tyson Summers” defense rather than a “Mel Tucker-Tyson Summers defense,” this is how Summers responded:

“It’s not ‘Tyson Summers’ by any stretch. It’s really all of us. We’ve got a fantastic defensive staff,” Summers said. “You’ve got great ideas and people with fantastic resumes from Chris Wilson, from (cornerbacks coach) Demetrius Martin, and obviously (safeties coach) Brett Maxie. (The defensive scheme) is a combination of a lot of our defensive staff put together.”