FORT COLLINS — When Tyson Summers left Canvas Stadium on Nov. 28 of last year, he had no idea what was next.
The Georgia native was in a position he did not expect to be in — interim head coach — when he returned to Colorado State about 11 months earlier for a second stint as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. He guided the program through the final weeks of a difficult season, one that was riddled with injuries and ended with a 2-10 record, the worst in a full season since 1988, with Jay Norvell being fired in the middle.
Most of all, Summers wanted to spend time with his family, whom he did not see much of during the fall. As a defensive coach in college football, he knows that comes with the territory, but it doesn’t make being apart from his wife and kids any easier.
What Summers did know back then was that his time as CSU’s head coach was over. His interim tag wasn’t going to be removed as the program announced the hiring of Jim Mora before to the final game of the season, but when the veteran coach offered him the chance to stay on as defensive coordinator, he couldn’t pass up remaining in a community he’s come to love across two stints a decade apart.
Colorado State Rams interim head coach Tyson Summers argues with the refs in the second half of the CSU vs. Air Force Academy football game in Fort Collins on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
(Stephen Swofford, Denver Gazette)
“I’m thrilled to be back and very appreciative of Coach Mora and the opportunity to be able to stay and be in a leadership position,” Summers said this month. “I want to do well for him. He gives me an opportunity to be able to stay and coach at a place and in a community that I really care about.”
It’s a unique situation for Summers, who will coordinate the defense under a third different head coach entering his third season at CSU. It’s unlike his one season under Mike Bobo, who he worked with previously at Georgia and it’s not exactly similar to last season when Norvell hired him in a move that signaled a need for substantial change in defensive philosophy multiple years into his tenure.
Now, he’s staying to be under a first-year coach in Mora, in a position Mora has described as unenviable, given Mora is a defensive coach at heart and will always be tougher on the defensive coordinator than just about any other position in the program, but that’s something Summers is choosing to embrace.
“I think the biggest thing about Coach Mora is really two things: how smart and intelligent he is,” Summers said. “His wisdom and all the years that he’s been coaching and his time in the NFL really carry through. And then, I think you just see his energy. Where he’s at at practice, how he runs our meetings and I think he’s a relationship builder.
“When you put all those things together — the relationships he has with the players and coaches and the staff and the trust that we have with him and then obviously taking all of his years of wisdom and bringing it all together and putting it out here I think is excellent.”
This Rams defense, even though it returns 12 players who played snaps in 2025, will look different. That’s aligned with Summers’ philosophy in recent years, though, as he’s gone from a coach who told The Denver Gazette this time last year he used to play exclusively a 4-3 system to now adapting that system to the current, ever-changing roster, only with violence, aggression and forcing turnovers still at the core.
Colorado State interim head coach Tyson Summers speaks to the officials during an NCAA football game against Wyoming on Oct. 25 in Laramie, Wyo. (Milo Gladstein /The Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP)
There are multiple defensive assistants who came with Mora from UConn, most notably co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Kenny McClendon, as well as several key Husky transfers who project to play a big role for CSU this fall, led by linebacker Oumar Diomande, second on UConn in tackles a year ago.
“There’s so many things that we’ve been able to build with a new defensive staff coming in and people from different places (with) different ideas,” Summers said. “We’ll have some different looks (from) what we’ve done in the past. Overall, the structure of how we use words and what things mean and how we want to teach techniques, all of that is very similar.”
What also hasn’t changed is Summers’ energy. Through a thick southern accent is the same message that tries to get his units to create havoc on the field.
“He gets everybody going,” sixth-year linebacker Jaseim Mitchell told The Denver Gazette. “We attack with violence, we’re aggressive and that’s real fun to get a lot of turnovers.”
The list: 5 Group of Six teams that can make the College Football Playoff
Boise State
Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson during the Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff game against Penn State, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Broncos sit atop this preseason once again, and for good reason. Boise State was the consensus No. 1 team in The Denver Gazette’s media poll heading into year one of the new-look Pac-12. There is no national star in years past like running back Ashton Jeanty and quarterback Maddux Madsen has never really developed into a player capable of taking over games, but there is too much talent on this roster for anyone else to be the preseason favorite to represent the Group of Six in the College Football Playoff.
New Mexico
New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne (2) in the first half during the Rate Bowl NCAA college football game against Minnesota, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The team that surprised everyone in the Mountain West by winning their final six regular season games to reach nine wins for the first time in a decade, the Lobos were able to keep up-and-coming star coach Jason Eck and a good chunk of the roster, including Eck’s son, Jaxton, who is one of the best linebackers in the country. The health of quarterback Jack Layne, who followed Eck from Idaho after 2024, could be a factor, but New Mexico figures to be one of two clear favorites in a new-look conference.
UNLV
UNLV head coach Dan Mullen, left, looks on from the sidelines during the first half of the Frisco Bowl NCAA college football game against Ohio, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
The other clear favorite in the Mountain West is Dan Mullen and his Rebels, who lost to Boise State in last year’s conference title game. UNLV has a lot of talent to replace on both sides of the ball, but former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold is the highlight of a solid transfer portal class and UNLV has suddenly turned into a program that you can reliably count on to be in the hunt for a conference title every year, especially in a weakened Mountain West.
Navy
Navy head coach Brian Newberry, right, hugs fullback Daba Fofana following the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. Navy won 21-20. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Usually, the American Athletic Conference would have multiple teams on this list and potentially one at the top. Tulane won the league last year and earned a spot in the CFP, but there’s plenty of turnover with the Green Wave and with other teams that have been at or near the top of the AAC recently. You can always count on the Midshipmen to have continuity, even though dynamic QB Blake Horvath is out of eligibility. Navy is simply the best bet in a conference that is wildly unpredictable given the amount of change on coaching staffs and rosters.
San Diego State
San Diego State running back Lucky Sutton (7) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against Hawaii during the first half an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
There are multiple Pac-12 teams that could be considered the second-best heading into the season, but let’s go with Sean Lewis (one-time Colorado offensive coordinator) and the Aztecs. It was actually SDSU’s defense, not Lewis’ usually high-powered offense, that carried the way to a 9-win season. That will need to change after losing key defensive players to the Power 4 level, but the Aztecs should have a solid offensive floor thanks to a potential conference Player of the Year candidate in running back Lucky Sutton.
What I’m Following
Who could’ve seen this coming? The ongoing battle between the NCAA and Class of 2022 high school graduates who exhausted eligibility in the spring and are seeking a fifth year of eligibility as part of the newly implemented “5-in-5” rule has another twist. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay Friday morning that reverses a recent ruling by a U.S. District Court in Denver that would allow all Class of 2022 athletes a fifth year. It does not affect the athletes who have previously gotten a temporary restraining order against the NCAA or an injunction that would allow them to play this season, but it does further complicate a giant mess that will probably have even more twists and turns with the football season set to begin next weekend.
Quotable
“When (Coach Prime) first got here, he kinda let coordinators have a little more control. Obviously now, the coordinators have a lot of control, but he really harps on certain details and it’s become more of a thing (about) discipline and not just saying, ‘If you’re a player, you gotta make a play.’ We’re gonna do the little things right, we’re gonna care about everything in this building and that’s gonna make a difference.” — Colorado fifth-year tight end Brady Kopetz on change he’s seeing from Deion Sanders’ first season with the Buffs to now.