With Robert Livingston having spent the last 12 years working as a coach with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, it would be natural to think he would bring the playbook he’s known for a while into his new job.
What Livingston’s career has taught him, however, is to focus less on the playbook and more on the players.
“It’s really easy to walk in someplace and slide the playbook across and say, ‘Hey, you guys learn this because this is what I do,’” said Livingston, the first-year defensive coordinator of the Colorado Buffaloes. “It’s not my defense. It’s not the staff’s defense. It’s our defense. And again, it kind of goes back to that tribe mentality, the thought process of, hey, everybody’s coming together for one common goal, right? We’re all pulling the same way.”
Hired in February by CU head coach Deion Sanders, Livingston hit the ground running in his new position with the Buffs.
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CU had three practices the week of March 18-22 and took this past week off for spring break before they return to the field on Tuesday. During the 15 practices of spring, Livingston said his process is to find out what the players do well, but he does have basic principles.
“I have non negotiables,” he said. “We’ll be the hardest playing team in the country. That’s how I see it. That’s how we need to be. We’ll be great communicators. And we’ll have a tribe mentality, meaning there’s no job too big, no job too small. It takes all 11.”
Which 11 are on the field is what Livingston and the defensive staff have to figure out, but he likes the pieces that are in place at this point.
“I think you’ve got to take this spring and you’ve got look at who you have and put people in positions to be successful,” he said. “So that’s what we’re doing as a staff. I was phenomenally fortunate to walk in here and have a staff intact, guys that know the players. So you find yourself earning their trust, as well as the players’ trust.
“This is a player-driven system. … I think when any new coach or new coordinator comes in, everybody’s got a blank slate and I think that’s good for all parties involved.”
In the NFL, where Livingston has been for past 12 years, there are only 53 players on an active roster and only 46 are allowed to suit up on game days.
“If you get a jersey, you’ve got to play,” he said. “So whether you’re a young player, whether you’re a niche player, whatever it may be, we should carve out a role for you if you’re going to be here.”
That’s more difficult to do with a college roster, which is more than twice as big, but Livingston takes the same approach in trying to find out what each player with the Buffs can do well to see if they can have a key role.
“If we’ve got a great blitzer, let’s blitz him,” he said. “If we’ve got a great cover guy, let’s let him play man, and let’s not overthink it. So that’ll be our thought process going into it. I recognize it’s very easy to say in the offseason, when you haven’t played a game. You’re 0-0, so everybody’s happy; so am I. But that’ll be our mindset and that’s what we believe in.”
In doing that, Livingston said the Buffs’ defense will look different from week to week. The game plan against North Dakota State in the season opener won’t be the same as the game plan for Nebraska the next week.
The goal, of course, is to help the Buffs improve from last year, when they ranked 124th nationally in points allowed (34.8 per game). Livingston embraces the challenge.
“It’s all about the guys to me,” he said. “I think when you get a chance to do it your way and to lead men, that’s really what it’s about.”