Sources: Buffs DC Livingston earns 2-year ext.

Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, who had an integral role in the team’s improvement last season, has received a new two-year contract that will make him the highest-paid assistant in team history, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Livingston will earn $1.5 million in 2025 and $1.7 million in 2026, according to sources, and the new agreement includes performance incentives. He received interest from other college teams and NFL teams after the 2024 season, where Colorado improved from four wins to nine under coach Deion Sanders.

Livingston came to Colorado last year from the Cincinnati Bengals, where he coached defensive backs from 2016 to 2023 after working as a scout and a quality control assistant with the team. He had not been a coordinator before joining the Buffs.

Colorado’s defense rose to 43rd nationally in points allowed after finishing 121st nationally in 2023. The unit allowed 11.7 points fewer and 101.4 yards fewer per game under Livingston. The Buffs also tied for 11th nationally in sacks, rising from 53rd in 2023, and had three first- or second-team All-Big 12 defenders, including two-way star Travis Hunter, who won the Heisman Trophy.

The (Boulder) Daily Camera first reported details of Livingston’s new deal. He earned $800,000 in 2024 and was set to earn $995,000 in 2025.