University of Colorado Athletics
Freedom Within the Go-Go: Buffs Offense Takes Shape in Camp
August 05, 2026 | Football
FOUNTAIN — Ask DeAndre Moore Jr. how he would explain Colorado's offense to a friend, and the Buffaloes wide receiver does not reach for a diagram.
"Backyard football," Moore said Wednesday.
That is the shorthand. The longer version, the one Moore gave a few seconds later, gets at why the Colorado Buffaloes football team believes its offense can look different this fall.
"I see this offense as an offense that allows the players to have freedom," Moore said. "We have a lot of options to do whatever we want to do, and it's not just, oh, you have to run certain routes to beat the coverage. No, bro — go get open. He allows that freedom, from the tight end room to the running back room to the receiver room. It's a whole bunch of flexibility."
The "he" is offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, whose Go-Go system has been the central project of camp's opening week in Colorado Springs. Marion said the install takes time, largely because the offense is built to bend toward whoever is running it.
"It takes time to install it, from the standpoint of just all the things that it's capable of doing," Marion said. "It's really an engine that's run off of players. So based off what we have, based off what we can do with our players, we adapt it to that. There have been a lot of pages in the book. There have been pages stolen from other people's books, so there are a lot of things that we can pull out and look at because of the skill set of players that we have."
For the players, the adjustment has been less about memorizing and more about reacting.
"To piggyback on what he said, just from the running back perspective, it's a lot more — you get to play reactive," running back DeKalon Taylor said. "It's not necessarily like you have to stick to a scheme. It's whatever you see, go for it, because whatever you see, it's probably right. So I really enjoy it. It kind of takes me back to being like a little kid almost."
Taylor, a speed back, has been described from the outside as a tailor-made fit for the system. He does not disagree. He also does not think the description belongs to him alone.
"I'm pretty excited for what I can do, but not even just me," Taylor said. "We have so many weapons in the room. We've got so many weapons from the receiver room. The O-line is amazing. Overall, anybody in this offense can go at any given time."
The freedom comes with a cost, and Marion has been direct about it. Playing multiple spots in multiple formations asks more of skill players than many of them were asked at previous stops.
"From the standpoint of the skill position guys, they have a lot on their plate, from the standpoint of multiple formations, multiple guys getting the ball," Marion said. "Some of our guys came from places where one guy just dominated the ball. You line up on the left side, run a go route, OK — until you play a better team, and then you don't have any catches because you don't know motion, you don't know how to be on another side. You don't know how to play multiple spots. Where our guys play basketball on grass, musical chairs. They move to multiple spots."
What does not move is the run game. Marion called the ability to run the football a staple of what the offense does, and he wants the group that does it to look like a defense while it does.
"You have to be physical and violent," Marion said. "We practice offense with a defensive mentality. We love contact. We love physicality. We relish in that. But as far as the physicality and the violence, if you were able to see practice today, you would see a lot of bodies hitting the ground. It was very violent in the trenches."
Marion said the running backs' biggest jump from spring to summer came in protection, which he called the first requirement for any back with professional ambitions. Taylor pointed to a room deep enough that the scheme does not have to lean on any one style.
"We go in, we've got two backs, and you might have to account for me, a speedier back," Taylor said. "But then we also have guys like Damian Henderson II that can do a little bit of it all. We've got Micah Welch, who is a bowling ball. Then you've got Richard Young coming through with the shoulders. So we've got a little bit of everything — you can't prepare for it. Pick your poison, for real."
The Buffs continue camp this week away from Boulder before returning to campus. Colorado opens the season Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.
"Backyard football," Moore said Wednesday.
That is the shorthand. The longer version, the one Moore gave a few seconds later, gets at why the Colorado Buffaloes football team believes its offense can look different this fall.
"I see this offense as an offense that allows the players to have freedom," Moore said. "We have a lot of options to do whatever we want to do, and it's not just, oh, you have to run certain routes to beat the coverage. No, bro — go get open. He allows that freedom, from the tight end room to the running back room to the receiver room. It's a whole bunch of flexibility."
The "he" is offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, whose Go-Go system has been the central project of camp's opening week in Colorado Springs. Marion said the install takes time, largely because the offense is built to bend toward whoever is running it.
"It takes time to install it, from the standpoint of just all the things that it's capable of doing," Marion said. "It's really an engine that's run off of players. So based off what we have, based off what we can do with our players, we adapt it to that. There have been a lot of pages in the book. There have been pages stolen from other people's books, so there are a lot of things that we can pull out and look at because of the skill set of players that we have."
For the players, the adjustment has been less about memorizing and more about reacting.
"To piggyback on what he said, just from the running back perspective, it's a lot more — you get to play reactive," running back DeKalon Taylor said. "It's not necessarily like you have to stick to a scheme. It's whatever you see, go for it, because whatever you see, it's probably right. So I really enjoy it. It kind of takes me back to being like a little kid almost."
Taylor, a speed back, has been described from the outside as a tailor-made fit for the system. He does not disagree. He also does not think the description belongs to him alone.
"I'm pretty excited for what I can do, but not even just me," Taylor said. "We have so many weapons in the room. We've got so many weapons from the receiver room. The O-line is amazing. Overall, anybody in this offense can go at any given time."
The freedom comes with a cost, and Marion has been direct about it. Playing multiple spots in multiple formations asks more of skill players than many of them were asked at previous stops.
"From the standpoint of the skill position guys, they have a lot on their plate, from the standpoint of multiple formations, multiple guys getting the ball," Marion said. "Some of our guys came from places where one guy just dominated the ball. You line up on the left side, run a go route, OK — until you play a better team, and then you don't have any catches because you don't know motion, you don't know how to be on another side. You don't know how to play multiple spots. Where our guys play basketball on grass, musical chairs. They move to multiple spots."
What does not move is the run game. Marion called the ability to run the football a staple of what the offense does, and he wants the group that does it to look like a defense while it does.
"You have to be physical and violent," Marion said. "We practice offense with a defensive mentality. We love contact. We love physicality. We relish in that. But as far as the physicality and the violence, if you were able to see practice today, you would see a lot of bodies hitting the ground. It was very violent in the trenches."
Marion said the running backs' biggest jump from spring to summer came in protection, which he called the first requirement for any back with professional ambitions. Taylor pointed to a room deep enough that the scheme does not have to lean on any one style.
"We go in, we've got two backs, and you might have to account for me, a speedier back," Taylor said. "But then we also have guys like Damian Henderson II that can do a little bit of it all. We've got Micah Welch, who is a bowling ball. Then you've got Richard Young coming through with the shoulders. So we've got a little bit of everything — you can't prepare for it. Pick your poison, for real."
The Buffs continue camp this week away from Boulder before returning to campus. Colorado opens the season Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballThursday, August 06
Monday, June 22
Saturday, April 11
Saturday, April 11