Colorado's George Helow Offers Candid Insight Into Deion Sanders' Leadership

Colorado Buffaloes defensive ends coach George Helow broke down Deion Sanders' leadership and his position group in his Tuesday presser.

CU football head coach Deion Sanders, or Coach Prime, watches his team warm up before the game against CSU in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colo. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Colorado Buffaloes defensive ends coach George Helow took to the podium for a press conference on Tuesday.

He broke down the impact of having coach Deion Sanders healthy and in the building for fall camp. In addition, he talked about his position group, leadership traits seen in the team as a whole and his fellow defensive line coach Dante' Carter. Here's a look at everything coach Helow said in his Tuesday presser.

What George Helow said:

How Deion Sanders has led the Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

 “There were good parts of last year; there are good parts of this year. Coach [Prime] is obviously healthy, and I'm not going to speak on his health. But I love seeing that guy in the building every day. His juice and energy levels, man. [Sanders] sets the tone for this place. Everything starts with him. I love that guy. And he brings it every day,” Helow said.

“He holds everybody accountable on the offensive side of the ball and defensive side of the ball. And that's what keeps everybody together. He's the glue of this place. We have no doubt about that. It all starts with Coach Prime, Coach Deion Sanders, and he does a really good job in his leadership role,” Helow said. 

Leadership of the edge rusher room

Michigan linebacker coach George Helow reacts to a play against Rutgers during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“As a whole, what we're doing is obviously the third week of camp. We've been at it. There's a lot of different packages with different groups of people out on the field. A lot of different guys from different places, and we're trying to see right now in the edge room, along with the defense, who the best people are to put out there, just in terms of effort and technique and fundamentals and playing football the right way,” Helow said.

“Getting in a good stance, having good get-off, striking blocks, knocking people backwards, just swarming to the ball, playing as one. Those are the things that we've really been talking about. So there's different guys at different times that have stepped up throughout camp, and just really happy with the room and the direction that we're going in, and I look forward to keeping chasing greatness.”

How the offensive line has challenge his group

August 10, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive assistant coach Andre Gurode during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Yeah, they do a great job,” Helow said. “The offensive line has a lot of great leadership in that room, starting with Gunnar [White]. He does a great job, and then you've got big George Hegamin and Andre Gurode that have played a long time in the NFL. They're good leaders of men, along with Gunnar; Grant [Hammer] is in that room, so they have a lot of good leadership.”

“And I'll let them speak to you more as for what they do and how they do it. But I mean, they're being led by good leaders of Christ, and they're great leaders of men. So we need the O-line to step up big, and we’re looking forward to playing some complementary football this year,” Helow said.

His thoughts on Dante’ Carter

Michigan linebackers coach George Helow high-fives players after a play against Nebraska during the first half of U-M's 34-3 win over Nebraska on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Ann Arbor. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“Dante’ [Carter], he GA’ed for Coach Peko and I last year. He's a young coach with a lot of wisdom and knowledge. I said that in the spring. Dante’ spends a lot of time with guys on every level. Worked for BT Jordan, and he's really good with all the pass rush stuff. I’m really proud of him and his progress and the opportunity he's getting at his age. He's doing a great job,” Helow said.

The work ethic of his players

“At times [guys have to re-learn habits], but give everybody a clean slate as they get there, and it's Coach Prime's motto: ‘You get what you are.’ So, of course, for the older guys that we went after, they played a lot of snaps at the different schools, and they made a lot of plays. We targeted a lot of high-production players, but there are some young guys too that haven't had the amount of snaps that some of those older guys,” Helow said.

“And I can tell you this: we're going to play the best ones. So you get what you earn here every day in practice, and you know how coach is. He's one of the arguably greatest competitors of all time. So all of our practices have a lot of good, healthy competition, and I think that's how you forge greatness out of a unit: to have competition,” Helow said.

“The history of me and my background and places that I've been and the leaders that I've been under- that was always a huge point of emphasis, along with Coach Prime. When you have competition in a room, and everybody's always uncomfortable, and they're being pushed to be the best. They can't take a day off. They can't relax because I've always called this since I've been in coaching. They're rep charts, they're not depth charts right now,” Helow said.

“Especially when you're in spring ball and fall camp. So those things change every day, and you know, really, I look at it as just an organization of structure of practice. A guy was [practicing with the] threes yesterday; he was with the ones today. So that's ongoing, and it'll continue to change,” Helow said.

Confirming a rotation of defensive linemen

Colorado Buffaloes edge rusher Kylan Salter is the younger brother of former quarterback Kaidon Salter and began his career with the TCU Horned Frogs | Kylan Salter/TCU Athletics

“Yeah, I'm a big fan. When you coach the defensive line, you’ve got to rotate guys. That's just probably me being from the South, and that's because of the humidity and not knowing how a game is going to go. We don't know what's going to happen the first drive of the game, if our offense is going to take the ball down the field and go score, or it's going to be a three-and-out series where we're not on the bench as much,” Helow said.

“When I was with the University of Michigan defense, we got a lot of credit, but we had the best run game in the conference. The O-line won the Joe Moore award both years that I was there, so we were watching a lot of football, which enabled those guys to rest. If you're on the field a lot, you definitely have to rotate guys in the defensive line position to keep guys fresh,” Helow said.

Adapting after Robert Livingston’s exit

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes defensive coordinator Robert Livingston during the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“A lot of hard work, a lot of long days, not a lot of time off. We were really grinding during the month of May, figuring out personalities, coaching philosophies, and what the defensive coordinator, Coach [Chris] Marve, wanted to do, and what direction he wanted to go in, and implementing what he wants to do, so that's been a good process,” Helow said.

“Again, I've been at a lot of different stops where there's been a lot of change. I look forward to the opportunity. It's an opportunity for me personally to build new relationships with new people that I haven't worked with in the past. It's all been great; it's always a grind when you're installing something new, because not only is it new for the players, it's new for the coaches, and we've got to always be on the same page and speak in the same terminology,” Helow said.

His thoughts on Week 1 of fall camp being off-campus

“It was great for the coaches. We had our rooms; I coach the edges, so the edge coaches were in the same hallway as me. The offensive line coaches had their section of the third or fourth floor where they stayed. Same thing with running backs, tight ends and quarterbacks. So you really got to bond. You're brushing your teeth at night. You're next to those coaches, and you're recapping how the day was,” Helow said.

“It was a grind, but a grind in a very positive light. A lot of these teams in the NFL still go to training camp in different locations. I was talking to Peko about it, who's with [Mike] McCarthy now in Pittsburgh. They still go to training camp. They live in the dorm room, and it was a great exercise. So glad we did that,” Helow said.

If they’ve started gameplanning for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Aug 29, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Members of the Colorado Buffaloes line across from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the fourth quarter at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Yeah, we definitely have. Just like all schools, you do your offseason studies. They have new leadership parts. I've got a lot of respect for Brent Key. I've known him for a long time. We both coached under Coach [Nick] Saban, so we know a lot of the same people; we know how they practice, have a lot of respect for what they do. A lot of the focus just in terms of my position group has been about us,” Helow said.

“Who are we going to be? How are we going to play? What's our play style? A lot of college football, you see the same type of run plays and pass plays week to week. So it's not always what you see. It's having play-to-play and play style, something big, but got a lot of respect and admiration. We definitely have looked at some of the stuff that they did, but we've been harping with our group; it's not about Georgia Tech right now. It's about us,” Helow said.

His ideal play style

“I tell the guys all the time: play style. When we press play on the tape, I want it to jump. I want us to say, ‘Wow! Who are these guys?’ 11 hats to the football, obnoxious communication, knocking guys backwards, playing with good pad level, and finishing every play in a dominant position, along with pre-snap obnoxious communication,” Helow said.

“So, whatever formation they're in; again, you're seeing a lot of different formations. Whether it's with the Y’s alignment or the fullback's alignment in the backfield, whether people are in condensed sets or wide sets or whatever it is, we all always say a loud defense is a good defense; you've got to communicate on all three levels, and you've got to play the right way,” Helow said.

It doesn't matter at the end of the day if you call cover three, cover four, quarters, fire zone. You're on an all-out blitz. You know you're sending five, playing something specific to the field or boundary. As long as everybody's on the same play, and you've got 11 guys doing the same thing, you always have a chance. So we've been preaching that,” Helow said.

Balancing pass rush and run stopping

“The way that you get sacks and they come in bunches, but it's by stopping the run and being really good on first and second down. So if we're good on first and second down, and we can create negative plays, and then that forces them to play behind the sticks a little bit, and then they've got to panic and drop back pass. Now we're able to switch up personnel and go hunt,” Helow said.

“But you've got to earn the right to rush the pass. You’ve got to do that by being really good in the run game and good on first and second down,” Helow said.

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