Colorado Defensive Coordinator Charles Kelly Leaving for Auburn
Deion Sanders staff at Colorado is losing another key member this offseason as Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly is electing to accept a new job at Auburn.
Kelly spent one season with Sanders at Colorado after spending the previous three seasons on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as a defensive back coach and associate defensive coordinator.
Kelly has occupied a number of jobs over the years after starting his coaching career at Central Alabama High School in 1990. Kell has occupied a multitude of positions on the defensive side of the ball at schools including Jacksonville State, Henderson State, Nicholls State, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama, and most recently Colorado.
Kelly’s defensive unit struggled in 2023 and gave up the third most points of anyone in the Pac-12 Conference surrendering an average of 34.8 PPG. They also gave up the third-most passing yards in the league (276.9) and the second-most rushing yards per game (176.4). In total, the Colorado Buffaloes defense gave up an average of 453.3 yards per game in 2023 which finished 11th in the league ahead of only Stanford.
While Sanders and company have the important task of moving to the Big 12 Conference in 2024 after electing to leave the Pac-12 Conference, Coach Prime will now need to scramble to fill a multitude of spots on the Colorado coaching staff prior to the start of the 2024 season.
