When striving to find the right linebackers to take the field on game day, Chris Marve isn’t necessarily looking for the most vocal, rah-rah type of player.
“There are all types of personalities that fit a football program, but there needs to be one standard,” said Marve, the first-year defensive coordinator/linebackers coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.
That standard, Marve said, includes: “Productivity, instincts, physicality, violence, speed, intelligence.”
Marve and the Buffaloes hope they found those qualities in the trio of linebackers signed as transfers this offseason.
Gideon Lampron, Liona Lefau and Tyler Martinez, who all come to CU as seniors with one year of eligibility remaining, are experienced players who were highly productive at their previous stops.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Lampron was first-team All-MAC at Bowling Green last season, recording 119 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Prior to that, he spent three years at Dayton and was an FCS All-American in 2024.
Lefau, listed at 6-1, 230, started 12 games at Texas last season, posting 69 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack. He played in 42 games with 20 starts for the Longhorns, helping them to the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Martinez, who is 6-1, 220, missed all but four games due to injury in 2025 at New Mexico State, but was second-team All-Conference USA in 2024 with 96 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
“Definitely physical,” Lampron said of the linebacker room. “A lot of great older guys in the room, especially Tyler and Liona. Those are my best friends on the team, so we’re a tight-knit group. … I’m just thankful for the room, and we’re going to be good.”
Overall, CU struggled defensively last season, allowing 30.5 points and a Big 12-worst 425.7 yards per game. The run defense was dreadful, ranking 135th out of 136 FBS schools in allowing 222.5 yards per game.
Those numbers aren’t all on the linebackers, but linebacker was a weakness for the Buffs. All four that played had some good moments, but not nearly enough, as the Buffs had a hard time finding consistency. Three of the four have since graduated, while Shaun Myers transferred.
The inside linebacker room this year is almost completely rebuilt. Walk-ons Bo LaPenna and Gage Goldberg return, but all six scholarship backers are new, including a trio of true freshmen: Rodney Colton Jr., Carson Crawford and Colby Johnson.
It is the veteran trio that is expected to lead that room, though, and they are determined to help the Buffs be more stout against the run.
“Run stopping is all about mentality,” Martinez said. “I mean, third-and-1, game on the line, mano versus mano, you know what I mean? It all starts with the mentality. Scheme is one thing, but like I said, when it comes down to man versus man, itap a mentality, who’s going to win their one-on-one.”
With plenty of game experience, the linebackers also believe in being sound fundamentally.
“Just being assignment-sound, take care of your gap, take care of your assignment, and then doing it to the best of your capability,” Lefau said. “Obviously, we’re going to focus on stopping the run heavy, but we also want to — itap a full defense thing. Itap not just that we’re going to stop the run and give up passes; it starts with stopping the run and then building off of that. So, we’re going to emphasize stopping the run and then we’ll go from there.”
For CU’s to be better defensively, it will take everyone, the defensive line to the secondary. But, the linebackers will be key and they hope to set a physical tone.
“We’re going to play violent and fast, and our standard’s excellence,” Lampron said. “And we’re just going to try and attack every single day.”
