1/19/2017 football Edit

Big Week For Colorado Football, Recruiting Updates and Much More

Buff Nation • CUSportsReport

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Providing the latest news and information regarding CU Athletics

It's been a week of highs and lows on the recruiting front for Colorado Football. Today we recap a big week of news and notes regarding Colorado Football.

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What's Hot: CU beats out Baylor for 4-star WR KD Nixon

DC Update: CU Football Defensive Coordinator Update

On Campus: CU Football Announces Early Enrollees

On The Recruiting Front

Earlier this week Xavier Newman announced he was decommitting from Colorado and headed to Baylor, Morrell Osling III decommitted from the Buffs as well and opted for UCLA.

Things turned up for the Buffs on Monday when 6-foot-5, 275-pound Rivals.com 3-Star Prospect Grant Polley shut down his recruiting and reconfirmed his pledge to Colorado.

"I'm 100% CU," Polley told us. "I told Texas no - officially." Polley visited Texas last weekend and had Colorado fans on pins and needles awaiting his quotes from being in Austin, Texas.

Polley's confirmation seemed to spur continued positive news for Colorado Football fans. On Wednesday evening 3-Star Rivals.com Receiver Laviska Shenault shut down his recruiting process as well.

In a social media statement made by Shenault he said, "I would like to thank all the coaches and their programs for giving me your time and love. After thinking and thinking, I would like to shut down my recruiting process and I will be signing to the University of Colorado on February 1st, 2017."

Two hours later on Wednesday evening, 4-Star Rivals.com Receiver KD Nixon announced he's solid with Colorado as well, big news for the Buffs on the recruiting front.

Nixon wrote on social media, "The story is already written, I, just sticking to the script. Same book, new chapter... 110%, the photo attached to his statement included some fresh artwork of Nixon in a Colorado Football Uniform."

Colorado Football Announces Early Enrollees

On Tuesday, January 17th Colorado announced their early football enrollees. 9 in total.

6-foot-5, 205 pound Quarterback Tyler Lytle out of Anaheim, California, Isaiah Lewis at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds out of Granite Bay, California, 5-foot-10, 170 pound Jaylon Jackson out of Cedar Hill, Texas, 6-foot-4, 265 pound Dante Sparaco out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, 6-foot-5, 280 pound Jake Moretti out of Pomona High School, in Colorado, 6-foot-5, 235 pound Shamar Hamilton out of ASA JC in Miami, Florida, 6-foot-3, 330 pound Javier Edwards out of Blinn CC in Brenham, Texas, Chris Mulumba at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds out of Diablo Valley CC in Pleasant Hill, California, and Dante Wigley a 6-foot-1, 184 pound Cornerback out of Hilmes C.C. in Goodman, Mississippi.

You can read about each of the early enrollees by accessing our Early Enrollees Feature - Click Here For More

Four Buffs Not Returning For 2017 Season

Colorado Football announced on Wednesday, January 18th that 4 players who were on the roster for the 2016 season would not be on the roster for 2017 because of various reasons.

6-foot-5, 285-pound Offensive Lineman Colin Sutton, 5-foot-11, 210 pound Running Back Dino Gordon, 6-foot-3, 230-pound Linebacker Christian Shaver and 6-foot-4, 280-pound Offensive Lineman John Lisella were the athletes listed.

New Colorado Football Defensive Coordinator

On Wednesday, January 18th, 2017 various reports announced that Colorado will hire Kentucky Defensive Coordinator D.J. Eliot to replace Jim Leavitt. The Universtiy of Colorado has not made an official statement of the hiring, however, continued various reports close to the situation at Kentucky have confirmed the report to be true.

Kentucky's defense allowed 31.3 points per game this season and an average of 434.2-yards per game.

According to a USA Today Report, Eliot was paid $575,000 per season at Kentucky.

On January 10th, 2017 Colorado assistant coach Joe Tumpkin was suspended from the team amid a police investigation regarding domestic violence.

Tumpkin was serving as the interim Defensive Coordinator for Colorado replacing Jim Leavitt who left Colorado for Oregon on December 14th.

2017 Football Schedule

Colorado released their official schedule for the 2017 season. The Buffs open up against in-state rival Colorado State on Friday, September 1st, then host Texas State and Northern Colorado at Folsom Field. PAC 12 Conference Play opens up with a rematch of the 2016 PAC 12 Championship as Colorado hosts Washington on 9/23, then the Buffs head to UCLA on 9/30. Conference home games include Washington, Arizona, CAL, USC, while Conference road games include: UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona State, and a trip to Utah on November 25th.

Full Schedule Here

Buffs at Shrine Bowl

The 92nd East/West Shrine Game which can be viewed live on ESPN on Saturday, January 21st on the NFL Network at 3:00 PM EST features five Colorado Buffaloes. Defensive Tackle Josh Tupou, Linebacker Kenneth Olugbode, Linebacker Jimmie Gilbert, Safety Tedric Thompson, and Corner Ahkello Witherspoon will each be participating in the College Football All-Star Game, plenty of NFL Scouts on hand.

Latest Updates and Interviews from the Shrine Bowl