BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Warren Sapp strictly enforces Colorado players being in straight lines while stretching at practice. Marshall Faulk harps over and over on proper footwork.
These two Hall of Fame players turned coaches are sticklers for the little things. That's on orders from the third member of their gold-coat club: Deion Sanders.
Sapp and Faulk are part of a Buffaloes coaching staff that boasts 160 years of total NFL experience (playing, coaching or covering). The crew runs a no-nonsense, tight-knit operation, which came in handy when Sanders was away and fighting bladder cancer. The coaching staff keeps reaffirming what Sanders always stresses — paying attention to the details.
“It’s the little things that will make us great,” explained Sapp, who is the defensive pass-rush specialist for the Buffaloes this season. “It’s the tedious repetition of the little things, over and over and over again. That’s what we do.
"He (Sanders) has so much other things on his plate. I figured I'd handle the little things. ... We really don’t ask much of them, except, let’s go to work and that's what we're going to do.”
In addition to Sapp and Faulk, the list of coaches that Sanders has assembled with NFL experience includes offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, receivers coach Jason Phillips, defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis, defensive line coach Domata Peko, and offensive line coaches George Hegamin and Andre Gurode.
Combined — and, of course, counting Sanders — that’s 27 Pro Bowls, five Super Bowl titles, an NFL MVP (Faulk), three Pro Football Hall of Famers (Sanders, Faulk, Sapp), two NFL defensive player of the year honors (Sapp, Sanders) and an NFL offensive player of the year recipient (Faulk, three times).
“When you have a whole bunch of guys that’s been there and done that, and played in the league, it’s definitely a blessing for us,” Peko said. “Everyone kind of checks their egos at the door, and we all just try to collaborate together.”
The Buffaloes may be adding more experience, too. Sanders said at Big 12 media day last month he’s trying to bring in ex-NFL QB Byron Leftwich and former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to the staff.
“With those two added, that’s 204 years of NFL experience,” Sanders said, “and I want those years.”
Faulk and Sapp were both in Canton, Ohio, last weekend for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. There, they hung out with the greats of the game, with Sapp recording personal video messages from past players to show his impressionable Buffaloes.
“I just soak it up from them, and I bring it back to the babies, because just hearing it from me, they hear me all the time,” said Sapp, who had 96 1/2 sacks over his 13-year-career. “But when John Randle was on (the video), and I can see their eyes pop up I got a whole new message. ... I'm going to give them everything I got."
For Faulk, being in Canton just reaffirmed his passion for football — and coaching.
“I literally sold popcorn in the Superdome because I couldn’t afford a ticket to watch the sorriest team in the '80s — the Saints," cracked Faulk, whose Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 by hosting Georgia Tech. “I just love football and to be around the guys (in Canton) who gave me the opportunity to play this game and left the game in my hands, there’s nothing like it.
“But it was the first time I’d been there and wanted to be somewhere else.”
Namely, working with his fleet of running backs.
Sophomore Micah Welch was in the lunch room when he heard about the hiring of Faulk in February. Welch went home that night and pulled up some highlight footage.
“It was amazing,” Welch said.
Faulk was dazzling on the field, a dual threat out of the backfield who spent his 12 seasons in the NFL 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.
He’s teaching his tailbacks the little things like footwork — “I’m a stickler for footwork,” Faulk said — along with how they receive a handoff from their QB.
“After that, go be creative,” Faulk said. “But we all start with the canvas and the paint brush the same way before we go make art.”
For Faulk, it was an easy decision to join Sanders in Boulder. They’ve been longtime friends.
“Coming here not just to win games on the field, but to win the game off the field, which is to make sure that these young men in life become what they want to become,” the 52-year-old Faulk said. “That’s the important part.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
