Hall of Famer Warren Sapp vows to fix the bad run defense at CU

NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is officially with the CU Buffs, and met with the media on Tuesday for the first time.

Sapp’s official title with Colorado on Coach Prime’s staff is a “Senior Quality Control Analyst” with the defense. Obviously, he’ll work closely with the defensive line, as Sapp registered 96.5 sacks in his 13-year NFL career with the Buccaneers and Raiders.

Here’s the full availability with Sapp, but a couple of things stuck out. Including the fact he vows to fix the Buffs bad defensive line from a season ago.

🦬 Sr Quality Control Analyst & NFL HoFer @WarrenSapp addressed the media for the first time since arriving in Boulder.

Spoke on his journey to get to Boulder, what he’s seeing from a personnel perspective, the rewards he finds in coaching and his gratitude for the opportunity. pic.twitter.com/dZZoegKaGZ

— Mat Smith (@RealMatSmith) August 13, 2024

“The one thing that I did see last year, before I turned the TV off, was we couldn’t stop the run. And that won’t happen with me, no. We’re going to earn our right to rush, by stopping the run,” Sapp said.

The Buffs gave up 176.4 yards per game last on the ground, which was near the bottom in Division 1, especially among Power 5 schools. They also gave up 34.8 points per game, which only was better than Stanford, Vanderbilt, USC and South Florida among Power 5 teams.

Sapp was clearly brought in the bring his knowledge to a defensive line that needs to get more pressure on the quarterback and plug holes up the middle. It helps that Coach Prime transformed most of his roster in the trenches this offseason as well.

“If you think you can do this all by yourself… I told them I’ve got a gold jacket and I’ll rip it up and tear it up to have 10 other guys come fight with me,” Sapp said. “We need a unit and a pack to go hunt… A bunch of wild dogs come show up in your neighborhood, no one’s going outside.”

Sapp won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay and was a First-Team All-Pro four times. He made seven Pro Bowls and was the NFL Defensive Player of the year in 1999. Sapp was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013 in his first year of eligibility.

And now he’s bringing his knowledge to the Buffs. Coach Prime will handle the skill positions guy, but he can use help up front.

That’s what Sapp is there to do on the defensive side of the football, and he made his expectations clear on Tuesday.

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