Welcome back to another reinvigoration of the single best audio podcast about the Colorado Buffaloes that’s ever existed, and yes, we can say that with all eight toes down, like Ralphie, because we’re on it. That’s the only reason why, we think. We’re back, the Ralphie Report is back, and we’re trying our best out here. We’re going to talk about the season again, and we’re ramping up toward the fall calendar in 2026 by starting to talk about what this football team looks like, position by position.
As we mentioned in previous episodes, we’re moving into preview mode. That means looking at every position group and doing our best to keep up with personnel changes, coaching changes, scheme changes, and how each group stacks up against the conference or CU’s opponents. Can they help us? Might they hurt us? People we’re excited to watch, people we’re interested in seeing throw some spots where we’re just not quite settled, or we’re concerned. Bite sized chunks that worked out pretty well with our audience last year, building up to a full season preview before the season starts.
So why not, let’s start with the big uglies. The episode title for this one is Mad Max Gurode Warriors, named after CU Hall of Famer and current offensive line coach Andre Gurode. Let’s talk big boys. Let’s talk hogs.
Coaching and Scheme
As we mentioned, same as last year, this group has three position coaches. George Hegeman is working with the overall group, Gunnar White is outside with the tackles, and Andre Gurode is inside with the guards and centers. Kind of a new setup last year, honestly, and it worked out pretty well, so they’re rolling with that group again. For the first time in a while in Boulder, we’re going to have coaching continuity on the offensive line, which is well deserved. There were a lot of problems with what happened on the field last year, and the offensive line was not that high on that list.
Who’s Gone
Unfortunately, a lot of the reason it wasn’t a problem last year is no longer here. Jordan Seaton, perhaps the best tackle in the country, is gone, off to Baton Rouge with a nice paycheck from Lane Kiffin. That’s always a bad place to start. Other guys are gone too, Carde Smith is gone, expected turnover, but losing Jordan Seaton is losing the best player on the team, and that super sucks. Part of the reason this sport feels hard to root for is that same exact thing keeps happening, we take the team’s best player away and now he’s on somebody else’s team. Jordan Seaton is easily the best pass blocking tackle in the country and still will be, and he’ll be a very high draft pick. He’s objectively a really good offensive lineman, so it’s a hard spot to start from.
Beyond that, CU is losing some pretty good guys in the middle to graduation and aging out. Zy Crisler came in from Illinois last year and added a lot of experience, and Zarian McGill came in at center from Louisiana Tech. Both were really good on the inside, and both aged out. That’s three starters CU has to replace.
Who’s Back
Coming back, there’s whatever the left guard spot ends up being, with a few different people in the mix there, and right tackle, which was Larry Johnson for most of last year until he got hurt. He’s coming back. So two returning starters, believe it or not, probably the most returning starters at this position group in the last few years. Somehow that makes offensive line a position of relative strength comparatively in the Deion Sanders era.
New Arrivals
In terms of where CU spent cash in the transfer portal this year, it is a hundred percent up front. A lot of guys coming in were starters and Power Five players who are going to play a lot for CU this year. Demetrius Hunter started at center for Houston the last few years and is in the conversation to start at center for CU. Jayven Richardson was the sixth offensive lineman at Missouri the last two years, ready to play but blocked by two experienced starters ahead of him, and now he’ll get the chance to play at CU. Bo Hughley, a guy CU almost flipped in Deion Sanders’ first recruiting class, transfers in from Georgia and is in the running to be CU’s starting left tackle, with real talent and size. Taj White started at Rutgers the last few years and is coming in. Leon Bell, a spot player and starter at Cal the last few years, is also coming in. And Jarvon McFadden, Jordan Seaton’s cousin, weirdly enough, transfers in from Ohio State.
There’s a lot of marquee names in there, and it’s a mix of guys young enough that it’s not a red flag they haven’t played yet, and guys old enough to already have real snaps on the field before arriving.
This reflects a big philosophy shift in recruiting, where CU isn’t just bringing in guys based on raw talent or high school recruiting rankings anymore. If a guy was at Auburn for two seasons and didn’t play, there’s probably a reason for that. Instead they’re bringing in guys with extensive experience, All Americans and All Conference players at the lower levels. It’s maybe not as pronounced here as at some other position groups, but the emphasis on experience is clear, and that’s a pretty big difference from seasons past.
Another difference in profile: last year under the Pat Shurmur era, CU basically just got the biggest offensive line it could find, and that was the idea. Go back and look at Crisler, McGill, Seaton, Johnson, those guys are absolutely massive. This year is a little different, because the scheme is different. A lot of these new guys are run blockers first, but they’re not necessarily that classic massive Big Ten type build. This group is big, great size for sure, but a little more mobile, and that’s necessary given new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s vastly different offensive philosophy. This isn’t a glorified high school air raid with no movement, it’s the go go offense, Brennan Marion’s scheme (go read the breakdowns on our website if you want more). There’s going to be a lot of movement in this offense, and these guys will need to be nimble, pulling tackles, pulling guards, doing wacky, creative stuff. None of these guys are quite Jordan Seaton, who could just haul ass down the field, but these are athletes who need to be able to move, and that appears to be exactly the personnel CU sought out and got. That’s a significant success on the recruiting front.
We only saw a small taste of this in the spring game, which probably isn’t indicative of the final starting five or what this offense is really going to look like. We’ll see more at the local practice and then against Georgia Tech. Expect more snaps played this year than last, more rotation on the offensive line, and more emphasis on guys being able to pull. The go go offense is a gadget offense, but it’s also a power, counter pull running style offense underneath the gadgetry, classic off tackle plays, classic inside zone stuff, just dressed up in a different formation.
Worth noting: Brennan Marion has said this is the best offensive line group he’s ever worked with in his coaching career. That’s nice to hear, and classic offseason sunshine pumping, though looking back at the groups he’s worked with, that may be more damning with faint praise than it sounds. The best comparison is probably the 2022-2023 Texas offensive line, famously not great. Still, he likes what he has, and multiple people keep saying these dudes are mean in a way CU’s offensive lines maybe haven’t been mean before. Two thumbs up for that.
Position Group Verdict
Split decision here, which is rare for us.
Jack’s take: strength, a relative strength on this team, something that’s actually going to help CU win games. The reasoning: the scheme itself should raise the baseline performance of this group even with similar personnel, because CU isn’t running drop back, five out, go nuts football that turns both the quarterback and the offensive line into sitting ducks for long stretches. It should be easier for matchups, even if it’s not necessarily easier to learn. Add in that CU has the most returning offensive line snaps of the Deion Sanders era, an established crop of Power Four transfer starters coming in as legitimate depth at minimum, and a transfer track record last year (Crisler, McGill) of hitting on plus players, and there’s real reason to trust this group.
Ryland’s take: acceptable. Not a reason CU is going to lose games, but also not enough certainty about personnel, scheme installation, and who’s actually going to be on the field to confidently call it a strength yet. Totally fine with being wrong on this one, since being wrong and good things happening anyway is an acceptable outcome in life.
Players to Watch
Bo Hughley is one obvious answer, a guy with the frame to be really good, stepping into the unenviable task of replacing Jordan Seaton. That’s a hard spot, and he’s going to be under the microscope.
The other pick is Yahya Attia, heading into his third season at CU after coming over through an NFL development academy pathway from Egypt. He’s someone who has really embodied the Deion Sanders, Coach Prime culture, reportedly wanting to change his last name to Sanders at one point, and has been a locker room favorite for multiple years while waiting for his moment. This fits the mold of previous Coach Prime favorite guy stories, like Charlie Offerdahl or Ben Finneseth, that have been genuinely heartwarming to watch play out, and it’ll be worth watching how this chapter unfolds.
Let’s see what that offensive line looks like starting up against Georgia Tech at the end of August.
