Head coach Deion Sanders looked inward to find a new outside linebackers coach, which came by way of the promotion of defensive analyst Vincent Dancy.

In a video posted by Thee Pregame Show Wednesday, Sanders said Dancy will replace former defensive ends coach Nick Williams, who left earlier this week to join Syracuse.

“Watch what coach Dancy does this season,” Sanders said. “Oh, by the way, he’s your outside linebacker coach. Let’s run with that.”

Dancy was the head coach at Mississippi Valley State from 2018-22 before joining Colorado’s staff as a defensive analyst, almost exactly one year ago.

“I trusted Coach Prime and his vision, so I knew what I was coming into,” Dancy said Wednesday night during the Sports Illustrated Sports Person of the Year and Coach Prime season two premiere event. “Just blessed and thankful that Coach Prime saw me as a candidate for the position [of coaching outside linebackers]. I’ve been working hard, but I know hard works pays off. I was ready.”

Dancy is familiar with working up the coaching ladder as he served as the defensive coordinator at Paine College in 2014 and was also the defensive coordinator at MVSU from 2015-17 prior to his promotion to the head coach.

During his time as a head coach at Mississippi Valley State, he developed a relationship with Sanders and now Sanders is excited to see Dancy in an elevated role.

“This guy is one of the smartest guys on the staff that just needed opportunity and guess what happened? He got opportunity,” Sanders said in the video. “Vincent Dancy is going to be a coordinator one day somewhere and then consequently a head coach. One of the most intelligent coaches and can recruit. And when he talks to the team, when I put him up in front of the team, you could tell he was a head coach. He demands attention.”

As Sanders and his staff look to acquire talent on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, Dancy feels confident he can bring in quality players.

“I feel great, Dancy said. “This is nothing I’ve never done before. I’ve been a head coach so I understand what kids are looking for, what young men are looking for and I understand how to get them to the University of Colorado.”

A long and important offseason awaits for CU’s staff to retool the roster, especially in the trenches.