Report: Colorado defensive ends coach Nick Williams not returning to program

Colorado defensive ends coach Nick Williams is not returning to the program, according to a report from Steve Wiltfong. He joined Deion Sanders’ staff this past year.

The job at Colorado was Williams’ first full-time coaching opportunity. He got his start as a graduate assistant at Georgia from 2019-20 before heading to Texas A&M as an analyst, focusing on work with the defensive lineman.

Williams played at Georgia from 2008-10, appearing in 32 games during that span. He then transferred to North Alabama, where he had 62 tackles and two interceptions as a senior in 2013 after two redshirt seasons.

Williams then played one year in the Canadian Football League, but decided to get into coaching as a student assistant in 2018 before moving up to graduate assistant.

Williams is the latest loss for Sanders’ staff in Boulder. Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis departed earlier this week to become the head coach at San Diego State. Lewis served as the primary play-caller through most of this year, but Sanders tabbed former NFL coach Pat Shurmur to take over those duties later in the year. Colorado finished with a 4-8 record after starting the season with a 4-2 mark.

Colorado started out the year with one of the highest-powered offenses in the Pac-12, but ended up finishing No. 9 in the conference with 363.6 total yards per game. Mid-season, Sanders made the decision to take play-calling duties away from Lewis and elevate Shurmur from an analyst role.

Deion Sanders: ‘This was a season of hope’ at Colorado — but next year is ‘a season of expectation’

Colorado went 4-8 in Sanders’ first season at the helm, but ended the year on a six-game losing streak. It was an impressive turnaround considering the Buffaloes went 1-11 in 2022 — a season that resulted in Karl Dorrell’s firing mid-year.

That’s why Sanders said recruiting is going to be key after instilling “hope” in the CU fan base.

“This was a season of hope,” Sanders said ahead of Thursday Night Football this week. “We instilled hope not only in our fan base, but in college football alike. But, next year is a season of expectation. Right now, we are recruiting our butts off. I’m recruiting as I speak. The expectation is everything. We have players that can get it done. We have a tremendous coaching staff. Now, we just got to add a few more pieces to the puzzle.”