The Colorado Buffaloes announced a series of staff updates this weekend. Among them is the hiring of a former NFL starting safety as safeties coach and defensive analyst. He was once a star safety for Urban Meyer at Ohio State (2013-2015) and played a key role on the 2014 national championship team, widely viewed as one of Meyer’s biggest recruiting victories.

“Vonn Bell joins the Colorado staff as an analyst helping with safeties after a nine-year NFL playing career as a safety with the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, and Carolina Panthers,” the team said in their announcement of the staff changes.

After the news broke, the former Buckeyes player dropped a post on Instagram expressing his gratitude for this opportunity with Deion Sanders.

“IM THANKFUL IM BLESSED IM GRATEFUL LETS WORK!” His Instagram caption read.

Coming out of Ridgeland High School, Bell was ranked as the No. 3 safety prospect in the nation in the 2013 recruiting class. In Bell’s senior year he helped lead his Ridgeland team to the Georgia class AAAA state championship game, eventually losing to Sandy Creek 41–10. He was rated as a five-star recruit by 247Sports and a high four-star recruit by ESPN, who rated him as the 50th best player overall in the nation regardless of position.  He committed to Columbus on February 6, 2013. The reason behind his commitment was majorly because of the then-Buckeyes head coach, Urban Meyer.

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“Urban Meyer played a big role there,” the safety said in an interview back in 2020. “Following his career and knowing he’s won everywhere he’s been was where I wanted to be. Moreover, everything from the academic staff, the coaches, and the players gave me the impression that this is the place for me. Additionally, I felt that Ohio St. would give me the best opportunity to reach my goals.”

Under Meyer, Bell became a two-year starter and suited up in 42 games over three seasons, including the year they took home the national championship year. His first start was on January 3, 2014, in the Discover Orange Bowl where he got his first interception. Bell was then made a full time starter for his sophomore season. He played in all 15 games and recorded 91 tackles along with a conference-leading six interceptions. In the 2015 National Championship victory over Oregon, Bell had six tackles and a sack. Along the way, he racked up All-American honors.

Finally, in January 2016, he decided to forego his senior season with Meyer’s program and enter the 2016 NFL Draft. And since then, there has been no looking back.

A second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Bell carved out a nine-year league run, making stops at the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, and Carolina Panthers. Starting 117 of 139 games, he stacked 501 career tackles, including 27 for loss, and added 9.5 sacks. 

Earlier, too, there had been a coaching talent influx from Ohio State to Colorado. Mel Tucker once sharpened his coaching talents in Columbus during the early 2000s. Then, years later, he took charge as the head coach at Colorado in 2019.

But Deion’s choice of choosing veteran players with no coaching experience has not always worked out. The most recent case is that of the failure of Warren Sapp. He came in as a graduate assistant in 2024 and was working with the D-line. Then last year, he was promoted to defensive pass rush coordinator, whose entire job was to help the defensive tackles to get to the QB. Despite being a Super Bowl champion, a 7x Pro Bowler, and a Hall of Fame inductee in 2013, Warren Sapp had never coached before arriving in Boulder. The results were not good.

The D-line allowed too many rushing yards and not enough sacks. Sapp was unable to turn raw athletes like Ezra Christensen into productive disruptors. In 2024, the Buffs gave up 23.1 points per game which was sixth in the Big 12. Then in 2025, that number rose to 30.5. The pass rush never materialized and Sapp eventually left the program.

However, Bell’s hire came off as a surprise, as the Buckeyes alum never officially announced his retirement from the NFL. Now that he is in Boulder, it’s reasonable to question what made Bell an attractive option in Deion Sanders’ eyes.

How is Vonn Bell the right fit for Deion Sanders’ Colorado?

The past few days have been rough for Deion’s Colorado, as they are now going through a coaching shakeup. One of their latest blows came with losing their defensive coordinator, Robert Livingston, to the Denver Broncos. This loss prompted many more new hires. 

For instance, while Deion promoted linebackers coach Chris Marve as the defensive coordinator, the Buffaloes hired UCF’s Kenny Ingram as the defensive line coach. Amidst these new faces, what made Colorado hand the duties to coach the safeties to Bell?

Post-Ohio State, Bell made noise in the pros. He will forever be remembered for his hit on JuJu Smith-Schuster during the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2020 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The ex-Buckeyes star’s other signature moment came when he stepped in front of Patrick Mahomes’ pass intended for Tyreek Hill and snatched it during the AFC Championship game. 

However, since Deion is particular about the discipline and the culture of the camp, Bell fits that bill, too. An early riser by habit, he would beat everyone to the Bengals’ facility, stack a full workout, then attack the day again with the team.

Coming from Urban Meyer’s Ohio State and then battle-tested in the NFL, Von Bell carries a high IQ and strong discipline into his first coaching role.