Jason Whitlock did not need a long explanation to take a shot at Colorado. One clip of OC Brennan Marion answering a question about the Buffs’ running backs was enough to get him talking about arrogance, with Deion Sanders dragged into the conversation for good measure.
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The former ESPN host shared the footage of Brennan Marion’s postgame comments on X, adding a pointed caption.
“Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall and listen to Deion and his O-coordinator just try to out-arrogance each other?” Whitlock wrote. “Not a single ounce of humility between the two.”
Colorado is coming off a bye week, but there is not much breathing room for Deion Sanders’ team. The Buffs have lost three straight games, fallen to 2-3 and scored just 27 points across those defeats. Naturally, questions about the offense are becoming harder to avoid. Brennan Marion did not seem particularly interested in entertaining one of them.
Daily Camera and BuffZone’s Eli Whitney asked Brennan Marion about managing the backfield. With several talented RBs available, the question was, how does the coaching staff keep players fresh while allowing someone like Micah Welch to build momentum when he starts finding success?
Brennan Marion paused before answering. What followed sounded like a coach who had run out of patience with the subject.
“I’ll try to be polite and answer the question without being an a—ole,” he said. “But to me, I don’t know why I’m getting asked run game questions when we’ve rushed the ball for, I don’t know, a lot of yards up my whole career. We were like number one in the country last year. We were number one the year before, number two, number three. So the run game will be fine. The running backs will be fine. They’ll get the ball when they’re supposed to get the ball and they’ll make plays.”
Brennan Marion was clearly confident in his system. The problem is that Colorado’s recent performances have given reporters a pretty obvious reason to ask about it. The Buffs opened the season with at least 180 rushing yards in each of their first three games. That production has since taken a sharp turn.
Colorado managed only 83 yards on 39 carries in its September 26 loss to Baylor. The following week, the Buffs recorded 78 yards on 32 attempts against Texas Tech in another defeat. The team averages 140.8 rushing yards per game, placing it 15th among the Big 12’s 16 teams, ahead of only TCU.
Welch leads the Buffaloes with approximately 218 rushing yards, but the workload has been spread among several backs. Damian Henderson II, JaQuail Smith, Richard Young and DeKalon Taylor have also received opportunities.
Brennan Marion’s resume explains his confidence, even if it does not settle Colorado’s current problems. As Sacramento State’s head coach in 2025, he oversaw an offense that averaged 262.6 rushing yards per game, ranking third nationally in the FCS.
His previous work at UNLV also produced strong results. The Rebels averaged 251.2 rushing yards per game in 2024, along with a school-record 36.2 points per game. Those numbers are reasons to believe Brennan Marion knows how to build a productive offense. They also belong to different teams, playing under different circumstances.
Jason Whitlock’s jab did not stop with Brennan Marion. By bringing Deion Sanders into it, he turned a tense exchange about RBs into a wider criticism of the culture surrounding Colorado’s program. The head coach has faced his own questions about how he handles uncomfortable moments.
Still, Jason Whitlock’s assessment of Deion Sanders and his OC is an opinion. But during a time when Colorado is losing, confidence can easily come across as defiance.