Denver — Deion Sanders added another Pro Football Hall of Famer to his staff at Colorado by bringing in Marshall Faulk to oversee the running backs.
Faulk becomes the third member of the Buffaloes’ coaching ranks to boast a gold jacket, joining Warren Sapp and, of course, Sanders. Sapp is the senior quality control analyst for the defense.
More:West Michigan QB picks Michigan State, second commit of 2026 class
Faulk will try to improve a running game that’s been one of the worst in the nation the last two seasons. Colorado’s offense has relied heavily on quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who are both projected to be high picks in the upcoming NFL draft.
Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are coming off a 9-4 season in which they earned a spot in the Alamo Bowl.
Faulk was a dual threat out of the backfield over a 12-year career with the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams. He rushed for 12,279 yards and 100 TDs, while also catching 767 passes for 6,875 yards and 36 scores.
Faulk, who turns 52 at the end of the month, was the 2000 NFL MVP, a three-time offensive player of the year and a Super Bowl winner with the Rams. He and Sanders were both part of the 2011 class that was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Sanders also rewarded defensive coordinator Robert Livingston with a new two-year deal that makes him the highest-paid assistant in program history.
Livingston also ranks among the highest-paid assistant coaches in the Big 12 Conference. He will earn $1.5 million next season and $1.6 million in 2026.
Livingston arrived in Boulder from the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent eight seasons on the coaching staff.
UNC trustees’ authority suspended
The president of North Carolina’s public university system has temporarily suspended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill trustees’ authority over athletics for acting beyond their designated duties.
In a Jan. 16 memo, system president Peter Hans wrote to UNC trustees chairman John Preyer citing concerns where board members “appear to act independently of their campus’s administration in matters squarely within the responsibility of the chancellor.”
Hans’ memo, first reported Friday by The Assembly and obtained by WRAL TV in Raleigh, also stated unilateral action by trustee members risk “blurring the lines of actual and apparent authority when these athletic departments negotiate business transactions with third parties” that could include past, current and future employees.
That letter came after trustees had criticized the firing of football coach Mack Brown followed by involvement in the hiring of six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick as Brown’s successor. There has also been the trustees’ push last spring to audit the athletics department while questioning data provided by athletic director Bubba Cunningham, though chancellor Lee Roberts publicly backed Cunningham’s leadership.
Additionally, trustees had been vocal in issues of conference affiliation, including coming out publicly against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s eventual 2023 vote in favor of expansion.
Win for Fourqurean
Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean was granted a preliminary injunction that would allow him to maintain his college eligibility and continue playing for the Badgers this fall.
U.S. District Judge William Conley issued his ruling after Fourqurean argued at a hearing that the two seasons he played at Division II program Grand Valley State shouldn’t count against his college eligibility.
Fourqurean took his case to court last week after the NCAA denied Wisconsin’s request for a waiver granting him another year of eligibility. Fourqurean had argued the NCAA is violating federal antitrust law by not granting him a waiver and by limiting his economic opportunities to receive name, image and likeness benefits because of his prior attendance at a Division II school.
Fourqurean had 51 tackles and one interception last season while starting all 12 games for Wisconsin.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
