Report: Colorado gives DC Robert Livingston new two-year extension, $1.55 million annual salary

Colorado is reportedly keeping defensive coordinator Robert Livingston on staff after he received interest from other college programs and NFL franchises.

Livingston has received a new two-year contract that will pay him $1.55 million per year, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. He is now the highest-paid assistant in Colorado history, according to Rittenberg.

Robert Livingston reportedly made $800,000 as the Colorado defensive coordinator in 2024 and was set to make $995,000 in 2025, prior to receiving the new deal.

He came to Colorado after being on staff with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2012-2023, first as a scout and eventually as a defensive backs coach.

In his first season as the Colorado defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston helped the Buffaloes turn things around on that side of the ball. Colorado allowed 34.8 points per game in 2023, which ranked No. 124 nationally. That number dropped to 23.1 points per game in 2024 under Livingston, which ranked No. 42 nationally.

In addition, Colorado went from allowing 453.3 yards per game in 2023, ranking No. 130 nationally to 351.9 yards per game in 2024, which ranked No. 50 nationally.

Robert Livingston did a great job with the Colorado defense in 2024 and has been rewarded for it. He will look to keep that momentum going in 2025.

Colorado hires Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as running backs coach

Elsewhere with the Colorado coaching staff, one of the greatest running backs in NFL history is heading to Boulder. Marshall Faulk is joining Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado as running backs coach, the program announced Thursday night.

Faulk will be the third Pro Football Hall of Famer roaming the sidelines at CU, joining Coach Prime and Warren Sapp. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2011 – his first year on the ballot – after a decorated career with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams.

Faulk has never coached at the collegiate level, meaning Colorado will be his first opportunity. He previously worked as an analyst at NFL Network alongside Sanders following his retirement in 2005.

Faulk rose to stardom at San Diego State, where he put together a College Football Hall of Fame career with the Aztecs. A three-time First Team All-WAC selection and two-time unanimous All-American, he was in the top three of the Heisman Trophy voting all three seasons and was the runner-up to Gino Torretta as a junior.

The Colts then selected Faulk No. 2 overall in the 1994 NFL Draft, and he won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 1994. That year, he ran for 1,282 yards and 11 touchdowns to lead the Indianapolis backfield.

Faulk played for the Colts until 1999 when he was traded to the Rams. He was part of the Super Bowl XXXIV team, known as “The Greatest Show on Turf,” and was a three-time First Team All-Pro selection in St. Louis. He also won the 2000 NFL MVP award.

All told, during his decorated career, Faulk was a three-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year and a seven-time Pro Bowler while leading the league in rushing yards in 2000 and in scoring twice. A member of the St. Louis Ring of Fame and the Colts Ring of Honor, he became a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2011.