Colorado Coach Vonn Bell Opens Up About the Talents of the Buffaloes Safeties

The Colorado Buffaloes have brought in many new faces on defense through the transfer portal, as well as on the coaching staff.

After practice on Wednesday, Colorado safeties coach Vonn Bell talked about the opportunity for his group.

Colorado Buffaloes Safeties Coach Vonn Bell Chris Marve Spring Press Conference Randon Fontenette Naeten Mitchell — Tennessee wide receiver Braylon Staley (14) is grabbed by Vanderbilt safety/outside linebacker Randon Fontenette (2) in an NCAA college football game on Nov. 29, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Culture of the Safeties

“The sky is the limit for this group. I challenge and urge them every day to challenge one another. Really embark on the journey, the commitment, the process, and really just keep on pushing each other. It’s a new scheme, but they all been in new schemes, there are similarities in stuff like that. Really, it’s just the terminology in stuff like that. And really just dive in and do their homework and find the snakes within the defense,” said Bell.

The secondary is a unit that must work together as one and communicate to ensure everyone is properly aligned. The safeties especially have that responsibility because they have a view of everything and are, in a way, the quarterback of the back end.

This is why having a coach like Vonn Bell, who has NFL experience, is so valuable. He has the understanding of what it feels like to communicate properly and what it looks like to not do that.

With defensive coordinator Chris Marve now taking over, there is a new defense and a new way of talking about coverages, blitzes, and other concepts. However, at this point, all of these players have played in multiple different schemes through high school and college, so that shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Ultimately, Bell wants the safeties to buy into the mindset of getting better every day in mastering their playbook, but also giving max effort every single day.

Colorado Secondary's Versatility

“I really challenge the group to keep on pressing every day, and it’s a very talented group. It’s a lot of versatility in this group, a lot of smart guys in this group. I gotta keep on challenging them, and they keep on challenging me to. I’m very excited to work with them every day; it’s a blessing, and what an opportunity,” added Bell.

Bell spoke about needing consistent effort from his players, and that is a message that has been delivered all through spring ball from nearly every single coach at Colorado.

The safety unit is very talented with players like Naeten Mitchell, Randon Fontenette, Jah Jah Boyd, and Ben Finneseth. All of these safeties have some level of experience with Fontenette and Mitchell having the most during their time in the SEC.

This group also has significant versatility, especially with a player like Mitchell who can play in the slot at nickel corner or as a deep safety. That versatility can allow Colorado’s defense to get creative and make opposing offenses try to decipher what they are actually looking at on the backend.

As Bell continues to coach up the safety unit, how the rotation shakes out will be worth monitoring during the spring game and into fall camp.

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