After he was dismissed by Virginia Tech following the 2024 football season, Chris Marve spent a year out of coaching.
It was hardly a year away from the game, however.
For Marve, the 2025 season was spent learning. He did internships with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams. He visited other college programs to pick the brains of colleagues. And, he reviewed what went right and wrong during his three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech.
The Colorado Buffaloes could benefit from Marve’s season of growth. Hired in December to coach linebackers, Marve was promoted by head coach Deion Sanders to defensive coordinator on Feb. 25 when Robert Livingston left to take a job with the Denver Broncos.
Throughout the spring, Marve often reviewed his notes from last year.
“They’ve applied every single day,” he said last month, “in terms of the way that I approach leadership and how I manage and communicate and collaborate with the defensive staff, my pedagogy in terms of when I’m in front of the room teaching the defense and teaching the linebackers.”
Itap also helped, he said, in the meeting rooms, knowing when itap time for a tense teaching moment or a more laid-back approach on a given day.
“Itap about communicating the information, extracting information from players,” he said. “But then also making sure that we can outfit and deploy defense that is elite and successful and aggressive. And so, itap been a combination of those things, man. I refer to those notes almost daily.”
A three-time second-team All-SEC linebacker at Vanderbilt from 2009-11, Marve had a three-year run (2022-24) as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Virginia Tech.
Marve’s defense with the Hokies had some success, giving up less than 25 points per game in each of his three seasons. The Hokies allowed 24.7 points in 2022 (54th nationally), 23.9 (51st) in 2023, and 22.8 (39th) in 2024.
By comparison, CU has allowed less than 25 points per game just twice in the last 19 years (2016 and 2024).
Several times in 2024, however, Marve’s defense coughed up late leads, contributing to a disappointing 6-7 campaign for Virginia Tech. That led by Marve being dismissed by head coach Brent Pry after the 2024 season.
Sanders is hoping Marve, as well as new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, can kickstart the Buffs, who struggled on both sides of the ball last year.
Marion’s offenses have traditionally scored 30 points per game or more. If the offense can average 30-plus and Marve’s defense can hold the opposition under 25 per game, the Buffs will almost surely improve upon last year’s 3-9 record.
“First of all, these guys are really good,” Sanders said of Marion and Marve. “They’re really detailed. The best gift that I believe that they have is not just Xs and Os, itap how they relate to the players. We have a situation now where these kids aren’t just coming and desiring to play for me. They want to please their coordinators, as well, and I’m happy and I’m elated about that.
“These guys know how to motivate and use the personnel that they have available. They have exceeded all expectations that I have for them, not just as football guys, Xs and Os, but the men that they are.”
Whether success in the spring translates to the fall remains to be seen, but Marve replaced a popular coach in Livingston and made a good impression of his own on players.
“I love coach Marve, I love his scheme,” said safety Ben Finneseth, who was out with an injury during the spring, but is one of the Buffs’ top leaders. “Our standard is excellence, and we’re going to be a violent and aggressive team. We’re gonna be fast, we’re gonna be smart, and we’re gonna have relentless effort. Thatap what I’ve seen on tape.”
Considering the defensive players had just a few days to adjust from Livingston to Marve at the start of spring, Finneseth felt there was a great deal of “buying into the standard he’s trying to build.”
That standard includes violence, aggression and playing “extremely fast,” Marve said.
“I think we really established an identity this spring,” he said. “I think the guys bought in to what we were trying to preach and what we believe in.”
