The King is Dead – Inside the End of the Kaidon Salter Era and the Inside Story on What’s Next for CU Football

The King is Dead

The Kaidon Salter era at Colorado is dead.  

Teams have realized that Salter doesn’t handle pressure.  He’s just not processing the field quickly enough to counter the blitz.  As a result, opponents are bringing five and six pass rushers on every play, and CU hasn’t been able to effectively adjust.

Why?

There are 2 primary reasons.   

First, CU doesn’t have any playable tight ends or fullbacks on the roster.  If CU had Big 12 caliber tight ends and fullbacks, it could use them in both pass protection and chip-and-release plays, offering Salter options in the quick pass game so that he could get the ball out of his hands faster.  Further, with tight ends/fullbacks, Colorado would presumably run the ball more effectively because they would have extra blockers at the point of attack, forcing the defense to play more traditionally as well.  Against Arizona, CU tight end Zach Atkins’ run blocking PFF grade was 46.4.  This just isn’t good enough to keep him on the field.  

Georgia Tech is a great example of how to use tight ends and H-backs/fullbacks to counter teams that are blitzing.  It’s a shame that CU doesn’t have a roster that allows them to mimic some of the things that other teams are doing with multiple tight ends to force defenses to change things up.  

So this is, in part, a roster construction issue.

Second, CU doesn’t take enough shots downfield — and when Salter does take downfield shots, he isn’t accurate enough.  Each week I scream at the offense to throw the ball to WRs that have a cornerback isolated 1-on-1 on the outside.  They don’t (very often).  When they do take shots, however, Salter often misses.  Case in point is the first series of the game against Arizona, where Sincere Brown was wide open running down the middle of the field and Salter overthrew him. This would’ve been a different game if Colorado didn’t get down and lose momentum so early.

TL/DR:  Teams have discovered Salter’s weakness, and Salter / CU hasn’t effectively adjusted.  As a result, the Kaidon Salter era at Colorado is probably over.

Leadership Issues

To certain fans that sit near me at Folsom, Omarrion Miller was CU’s best player against Arizona, finishing with 5 receptions for 91 yards and 2 TDs.  Miler finished with a PFF grade of 61.9, which is about average.  Dig deeper, though, and you see that Miller’s game wasn’t nearly as good as it looks in the box score or the PFF grade.   

Miller had 3 “lack of discipline” penalties (1 false start and 2 illegal formation penalties).  One of these penalties wiped out a long touchdown pass to Sincere Brown as Miller lined up on the line of scrimmage, causing the inside wide receiver to be an ineligible receiver.  On another play, Miller was bumped downfield and stopped running his route.  Ryan Staub threw to the spot Miller would have been if he hadn’t stopped running, and it resulted in an interception.  

Miller was also late to return to Boulder last week after the bye, causing Deion Sanders to sit him for much of the Utah game.  

A lack of attention to detail is a major problem for Miller.

I’m not here to dunk on Miller. Still, Colorado needs its best players to be its best leaders.  The biggest issue that this team has right now is lack of leadership.  The problem is exacerbated by roster construction issues and the fact that there aren’t enough returning players to set a high standard and to demand that the new players meet that standard.  CU’s returning players are critical to setting that standard, and CU needs Miller to be a leader.

Even Jordan Seaton had some discipline issues against Arizona.  He lined up 2.5 yards offsides when he was split out as a wide receiver.  I laughed but I could have cried.  

Seaton had arguably his worst game as a Buff against Arizona.  He was CU’s 2^nd lowest graded offensive player that played at least 10 snaps, finishing with a 51.3 PFF grade.  

The lowest-graded Buff against Arizona was Yahya Attia (we’ll get to him in a minute), checking in with a 40.6 overall grade. His pass protection was not good. Attia’s PFF pass-blocking grade was a jaw-droppingly low 23.8 — honestly the lowest grade I can remember seeing. The runner-up in this sad competition? Larry Johnson III, who “outperformed” him with a 24.1 against Arizona.  Ouch.

TL/DR:  CU needs its best players to be leaders.  They weren’t against Arizona. 

Coaching Issues

I’m on record that the coaching staff needs to be retooled.  See the following post for more:

CU’s Car Crash Moment – and Why That Can Be a Good Thing

The game against Arizona was further evidence of coaching issues. CU had 14 penalties for 110 yards, including these doozies:

• Delay of game on CU’s first punt of the game.  
• Delay of game on CU’s first extra point of the game.
• 3 illegal formation penalties.
• The afore-mentioned Jordan Seaton lining up 2.5 yards offsides penalty.
• Unsportsmanlike penalty by Yahya Attia for “brandishing a weapon” (holy shit!).  The TV announcer later tried to clarify that the penalty was for “simulation of brandishing a weapon.”  Mildly disappointing — I was hoping Attia had finally decided that if he couldn’t stop the blitz with technique, he’d stop it with the 2^nd Amendment.

There were other coaching issues that showed up repeatedly.

-The defense failed to get lined up correctly.  On the first Arizona touchdown of the game, Noah Fifita saw 3 Arizona wide receivers being covered by 2 defensive backs, called an audible, threw a hitch, and Tre Spivey scored on a 70-yard touchdown. 

-The offense can’t effectively adjust to teams pressuring the quarterback.  Since teams are blitzing CU repeatedly, CU’s wide receivers are consistently on an island with one corner, yet CU doesn’t take (enough) downfield shots.  

-For the life of me, I don’t understand why Jeheim Oatis doesn’t play more.  He played 25 snaps against Arizona and finished with a 71.9 PFF grade, by far the highest PFF grade among CU’s defensive linemen.    In Oatis’ place was Brandon Davis-Swain, who played 37 plays and had a 49.2 PFF grade.  

It seems like CU’s coaches are not always playing the best players.  That’s an issue, folks. 

-However, the thing that bothered me the most against Arizona, was a lack of second half urgency.  In the 3^rdquarter, down 52-14, CU’s offense didn’t use tempo.  Instead, at one point, CU ran the ball six times in a row while down 38 points.  There was no urgency, no attempt to really get back in the football game.  Taking notes while watching the game, I wrote “DOES CU WANT TO WIN THIS GAME?!?!”  I don’t think they cared. That’s not acceptable. And that’s on the coaching staff.

TL/DR: Coaching matters.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the Play?

It’s clear that JuJu is now QB1.  It’s very possible, however, that JuJu’s handlers don’t want him playing in each of the next 3 games because he’d blow his redshirt.  JuJu can play in 2 more games and still have his redshirt available.  For this reason, it wouldn’t shock me if JuJu starts the next 2 games and then sits the season finale at Kansas State (and hey, it’s always nice to avoid having to travel to Manhattan, Kansas).

Defensively, Carter Stoutmire played well against Arizona.  While he missed some key tackles, he was solid overall.  PFF graded him out with a team-high 83.7.  Ivan Yates also played well and finished with a PFF grade of 70.1.  

Offensively, CU’s best player this season continues to be Zarian McGill. McGill finished the night with a 67.1 PFF grade.  I also thought Kareem Harden played well.  PFF agreed, and he had a 66.8 PFF grade for the night. 

TL/DR:  There were a few bright spots to take from the Arizona game. 

Sick of football coverage? Well, basketball season is starting and we’ll cover basketball with the same inside the program perspective that you’ve come to expect from BuffsBlog. We’re optimistic about the women’s team, and think they’ll make a run to the NCAA tournament. For more on the women’s hoops team, check out:

JR Payne Reloads: Why CU Women’s Hoops is Built to Dance in 2025-26