CU football notes: 3-star DB commits to Buffs

Brian Howell, Colorado Daily, Boulder
·2 min read

Aug. 4—Colorado added to its 2023 football recruiting class on Wednesday night.

The Buffaloes got a verbal commitment from defensive back Jamari Holliman, from Norland High School in Miami.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Holliman had committed to Toledo in April but changed his mind after an official visit to CU in late June.

Rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, Holliman has eight total scholarship offers, including from Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, and Florida International.

CU has 17 players verbally committed for the 2023 class. Holliman is the third defensive back in the class.

Time battle

Led by new coordinator Mike Sanford, the Buffs have a new offensive playbook this year. Sanford has been installing that playbook since the spring, but 20 new players (10 on offense) joined the team this summer.

Sanford said it can be challenging to install a new offense with the time limitations placed on coaches by the NCAA. He also acknowledged that could be tougher for teams who loaded up on summer transfers.

"If you want to have some complexities to your offense, I could see that would be a lot more challenging to just start from scratch with guys that are getting here from the portal right now that needed to graduate from their respective institutions," he said. "I like the model we went with: a lot of the portal kids were here in the spring, so there is less of that implementation of brand new guys. But there is a handful of guys that didn't take spring ball that are getting reps for the first time, and you can see the curve."

Depth benefit

Last year, the Buffs had two healthy scholarship quarterbacks during the season. Currently, there are five healthy scholarship quarterbacks — plus three walk-ons. That will lead to more competition for roles on the depth chart, but that's not the only benefit. With more depth at quarterback, the scout team should be able to give a better look to the defense.

"The quality of the work that the defense will have with show teams is going to be much better, too, just because of the talent in that (quarterback) room," Dorrell said. "It does help their preparation whenever we get into that phase after camp and getting ready to play."