The Colorado Buffaloes are hoping for an offensive resurgence under offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and his innovative ‘Go-Go’ scheme in 2026. With this being his first year, most Buffs fans still don’t quite know what to expect out of Marion and his system ahead of the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. 

But the person who has seen more of Marion’s offense than anyone this year is Buffs defensive coordinator Chris Marve. During his Thursday press conference, Marve broke down the challenges Marion’s scheme has presented to his defense and sent a positive message to fans in the process.

How the offense and defense have improved one another

With both of Colorado’s coordinators being in their first season, the battles they’ve posed to each other will shape their preparation for the upcoming season. Marion’s ‘Go-Go’ offense and Marve’s 4-2 defense are both hard-nosed schemes that thrive on toughness, working for excellent competition in fall camp.

"Yeah, ball coach B (Brennan Marion), that's my guy, man,” Marve said. “We challenge each other pretty good. Hyper competitive against one another. But I fundamentally believe iron sharpens iron, and I think we've been able to do that for one another.”

The fact that each side of the ball is facing a unique scheme every day in practice will do wonders for the team as a whole in a grueling Big 12 schedule. The fast pace of the "Go-Go" offense will make it much easier to adjust to more typical opposing schemes in the conference slate. For the offense, they’ll be able to find success against most secondaries due to the high caliber of Marve’s

How the offense and defense will continue to improve one another

This constant battle throughout the season will allow both units to continue improving instead of growing stagnant. That is what took place during Colorado’s bye week in 2025, as both sides of the ball looked slow and unprepared following the time off. Marve spoke on how he and Marion will continue to push each other throughout the season.

“We're going to continue to do that throughout the course of the year, whether we're in good-on-good periods, whether we're popping down the hall to ask questions, you know, we're on the text message chain,” Marve said. “I think we've been good for each other. So I appreciate and respect the opportunity to work with him."

Chris Marve’s impressions of the ‘Go-Go’ offense

The uniqueness of Marion’s offense is something that Marve has taken careful note of. He’s had a challenging time adjusting to certain aspects of it, even this late in fall camp. That isn’t due to a struggling defense as much as it is a one-of-a-kind offensive system.

"You don't know what you're gonna get,” Marve said. “Good luck figuring it out. Our guys better have their eyes in the right place. [The ‘Go-Go’ offense] has certainly helped us shore up some rules defensively, but you just don't know. So he's hyper creative, innovative in that way; he challenges guys, so he gets the most out of his guys. And so man, I respect that."

As the Buffaloes gear up to face a team that similarly utilizes the triple-option and a variety of RPOs in the Yellow Jackets, Marve can rest assured that his unit will be a high-integrity bunch due to the competition they’ve faced in Marion’s ‘Go-Go’ offense.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news.