Colorado University Athletics
Sapp Brings Whirlwind Of Energy To Buffs Defensive Line
August 13, 2024 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — If exuberance, energy and enthusiasm are part of winning football, the Colorado defensive line is in for a big season.
That is if the Buffaloes can channel even half the energy that NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is bringing to the field.
Sapp, a graduate student addition to Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' staff in the offseason, has become a dynamic on-the-field presence this year. With the new rule allowing grad assistants to engage in on-field instruction, Sapp's gregarious, mile-a-minute personality has injected a high-level spirit into CU's workouts.
"For someone that never wanted to do this, I am really addicted to it right now," Sapp told the media after Tuesday's workout. "The babies are really giving me a purpose in life, and I'm enjoying it."
The "babies," of course, are his interior D-linemen charges, and Sapp's presence gives the Buffs what amounts to three defensive line coaches: defensive line coach Damione Lewis, defensive ends boss Vincent Dancy and Sapp.
Their success will be a critical part of the Buffs' goal of taking another step forward this season. CU's defensive line struggled last year to stop the run (107th in the nation) and sack the quarterback (53rd in the nation), a big reason Colorado finished 127th in total defense and 121st in scoring defense.
Sapp first became acquainted with the Buffs last fall when he paid a visit to Coach Prime early in the season. He returned the week of the game against USC and it quickly became apparent that he could connect with players, as a multitude of Buffs sought him out for advice.
Still, he wasn't around on a daily basis and he is trying not to make any judgments based on last season — except for one glaring flaw he observed.
"The one thing that I did see last year before I turned the TV off, was we couldn't stop the run, and that won't happen with me," Sapp promised. "No, we're gonna earn our right to rush (the passer) by stopping the run."
Sapp did both things extremely well in a 13-year career with Tampa Bay and Oakland. He finished his career with 569 tackles, including 434 solo stops and 96.5 sacks. He also recorded 19 forced fumbles in his career with 12 recoveries, along with four interceptions.
Those numbers, produced by a seemingly non-stop motor, paved the way to a bust in Canton.
Now he's trying to bring that attitude to CU's defensive line.
"I just love their energy, their willingness to come and work and learn and take it from the classroom out to the practice fields and the drills we're doing," Sapp said. "I tell them, show me how you love this by the way you work. I'm a fun guy, I think, but I do get them to work."
Along with making significant coaching changes on the defensive front in the offseason, the Buffs also added a number of new faces. The interior group includes transfers Rayyan Buell (Mississippi CC), Taurean Carter II (Arkansas), Anquin Barnes Jr. (Alabama), Tawfiq Thomas (Louisville) and Chidozie Nwankwo (Houston).
Meanwhile, the Buffs also have some solid returnees in Shane Cokes and Amari McNeill.
CU also added plenty of new faces on the edge, including transfers BJ Green II (Arizona State), Quency Wiggins (LSU), Dayon Hayes (Pitt) and Samuel Okunlola (Pitt).
Sapp didn't want to single any players out as having great camps but said instead that CU's goal is to build depth — enough so that the Buffs can always have fresh legs up front.
"A lot of depth," Sapp said, "We're trying to develop some depth. I tell them we got five ends on a two-lane highway so y'all better fight for those reps, because they're gonna go fast. They're gonna go fast. Inside, we're just building depth."
There's no doubt the college game has changed to a degree since Sapp was a standout for Miami in the early 1990s. The passing game has become much more wide open while the run game is not nearly as prevalent as it was in his day.
"This is the first time I'm going for a championship and I'm not leading," he said. "That's a beautiful thing that now I have to relinquish the will and let somebody else drive. It's a beautiful thing to watch my kids, day in and day out, get a little better. We're just going at it each and every day and the best part about it is I'm learning every day. They're teaching me too, because the game ain't the same. It's a different game. And the way I played it, I can't play it like that anymore. So we're just mixing and matching and doing it right. It's 21st century football. So I'm learning, they're learning and we're gonna learn together."
But what hasn't changed is the work ethic required to succeed. That is something Sapp drills into the Buffs at every opportunity possible.
"On a day-in, day-out basis, we're gonna pour concrete," Sapp said. "We're gonna make sure we are fundamentally sound in our gaps, in our hands and our feet, and trust in our eyes."
The result, he vowed, will be a much-improved unit that Buffs fans will appreciate.
"We need a unit and a pack to go on," he said. "When a bunch of wild dogs show up in your neighborhood, nobody's coming outside. That's what I'm telling you, show up like a bunch of wild dogs to the stadium and we're gonna hunt. The table is set. Let's eat coach."
