Colorado head coach Deion Sanders didn’t take long and didn’t look far to find a new outside linebackers coach.
During a video posted on YouTube by Thee Pregame Show on Wednesday, Sanders said that he has promoted analyst Vincent Dancy to replace Nick Williams, who left earlier this week to join the staff at Syracuse.
“Watch what coach Dancy does this season,” Sanders said. “Oh, by the way, he’s your outside linebacker coach. Let’s run with that.”
Dancy was the head coach at Mississippi Valley State from 2018-22, leaving that position almost exactly a year ago to join CU’s staff as a defensive analyst.
“I trusted Coach Prime and his vision, so I knew what I was coming into,” Dancy said Wednesday night during an event to honor Sanders at the CU Events Center. “Just blessed and thankful that Coach Prime saw me as a candidate for the position (of coaching outside linebackers). I’ve been working hard, but I know hard works pays off. I was ready.”
A linebacker and safety at Jackson State from 2002-05, Dancy worked as the defensive coordinator at Paine College in 2014 and was the coordinator at MVSU from 2015-17 before being promoted to head coach.
While the head coach at MVSU, Dancy dealt with scholarship limitations and had just a 9-38 record with the Delta Devils. But, he developed a good relationship with Sanders, which led to Sanders wanting him on the staff this past year.
Now, he’s excited to see Dancy in his new position.
“This guy is one of the smartest guys on the staff that just needed opportunity and guess what happened? He got opportunity,” Sanders said on the video. “Vincent Dancy is going to be a coordinator one day somewhere and then consequently a head coach. One of the most intelligent coaches and can recruit. And when he talks to the team, when I put him up in front of the team, you could tell he was a head coach. He demands attention.”
As a recruiter, Dancy said, “I feel great. This is nothing I’ve never done before. I’ve been a head coach so I understand what kids are looking for, what young men are looking for and I understand how to get them to the University of Colorado.”
In addition, Sanders reaffirmed that Pat Shurmur is likely to be the offensive coordinator, although he has not made a final decision.
Shurmur was promoted from analyst to co-coordinator with four games left in the season. The other co-coordinator, Sean Lewis, left last week to become the head coach at San Diego State. Earlier this week, Sanders told USA Today that Shurmur would “most likely” be the offensive coordinator.
On Wednesday’s video, he said, “That’s likely that would happen, but you gotta hold on. You just don’t know. But, let me tell you something about coach Shurmur. Pat is phenomenal. … Coach Shurmur is a wonderful man who is respected by the entire staff as well as the team and if that’s the direction that I’m going, I’m real comfortable with it.”
Overall, the Buffs have four positions to fill on the roster of 10 full-time assistant coaches.
In addition to replacing Williams and Lewis full-time, the Buffs are filling spots vacated by offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle (now at San Diego State) and tight ends coach Tim Brewster (now at Charlotte). On Wednesday night, BuffZone confirmed that CU has hired former Minnesota Vikings tackle Phil Loadholt as the new line coach.