After day three of the Colorado Buffaloes' fall camp, offensive coordinator Brennan Marion took to the podium for his press conference. He discussed how he implements his pattented 'Go-Go' offense and what he's learned throughout his coaching career.Marion gave insight into what he's seen from Colorado's defense as well, painting a good picture for fans on what fall camp has looked like thus far.What Brennan Marion said:On his first impressions of the running backs in fall campSep 6, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes running back Micah Welch (29) celebrates a touchdown in the second half against the Delaware Fightin Blue Hens at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“Well, all of those guys can be explosive,” Marion said. “They’ve been very violent, running downhill. They've done a lot of better job in protections. That was the challenge from the spring to the summer, to understand protection. Those guys have been doing a really good job of understanding the protection and then being physical at the point of attack and protection.”“The number one rule if you want to play in the National Football League at running back is you have to protect the quarterback,” Marion said. “So, Coach [Johnnie] Mack and Coach Joc [Upton] have done a really good job of helping those guys understand protections and working with the offensive line to get it done.”“So, really proud of that group from a standpoint of trying to be three-down backs,” Marion said. “Being able to catch the ball out of the backfield, being able to run the ball. They're all here because they can run the ball when they get the ball, and then being able to protect the quarterback, obviously being the most important thing.”On quarterback Julian ‘JuJu’ LewisApr 11, 2026; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) prepares to pass the ball during the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“Yeah, I think anytime you have the type of ability that that kid has coming out of high school, and you have all the people that try to get around the kid who’s supposed to be ‘the next coming,’ that creates trust issues,” Marion said. “So for him, it's just about the consistency of him seeing me be me every day, and it's giving him more confidence to be himself and open up to the group, just let his personality really thrive and show.”“So he's continuing to grow every day,” Marion said. “He's still a young kid. He still has a lot of growth to do. He's not going to be a final product year one, or year one and a half, or however we look at that. But he's doing a really good job of being the same guy, consistent every day, and his teammates are respecting him for that.”On quarterbacks Isaac Wilson and Kaneal SweetwyneApr 11, 2026; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Isaac Wilson (16) during the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“Isaac and Kaneal are at different stages,” Marion said. “Isaac is really on like the comeback tour. He was anointed as a young quarterback, thrown into the fire. It didn't go the way that he wanted to go. He played okay, but not great, right? That's the reason why he's here, and so he's really worked at just letting go of what happened in the past, the hurt feelings, the I should have beens, and really worked on what can I do here, and really be where his feet are.”“From Kaneal’s standpoint, he should have just gone to the prom and all that,” Marion said. “So, he's a young kid with a lot of ability, a lot of talent. Everybody can see that, ‘oh yeah, he's going to be special,’ because every day he has those flashes and plays where you see, like, man, this dude is going to be something.”On installing the ‘Go-Go’ offense“It takes time to install it from the standpoint of all the things that it's capable of doing,” Marion said. “It's really an engine that's run off of players. So, based on what we have, based on what we can do with our players, then we adapt it to that. There are a lot of pages in the book; there have been pages stolen from other people's books, so there are a lot of things that we can pull out and look at because of the skill set of players that we have.”“We're going to adapt to what we have and what we can do well,” Marion said. “And then we're always going to be able to run the football, and that's a staple of what we do. You have to be physical and violent. We practice offense with a defensive mentality. We love contact. We love physicality. We we we love that. We relish in that.”“So, for our guys, the guys that we recruited up front, that's their natural habitat of being violent and over the top,” Marion said. “So, we just have to scale those guys back a little bit and continue to work their technique, but as far as the physicality and the violence, if you were able to see practice today, you would see a lot of bodies hitting the ground. It was very violent in the trenches.”“From the standpoint of the skill position guys, they have a lot on their plate,” Marion said. “From the standpoint of multiple formations, multiple guys getting the ball.” “Some of our guys came from places where one guy just dominated the ball,” Marion said. “They line up on the left side, run a go route, okay. Until you play a better team, and then you don't have any catches because you don't know how to motion, you don't know to be on another side, you don't know how to play multiple spots.”“Our guys play basketball on grass, musical chairs,” Marion said. “They move to multiple spots. So once the guys continue to grow and develop with that, Coach [Rashad Davis] has done a good job. [Jason Phillips, when he was here, did a really good job with the guys. Everybody is learning, going extra, and striving to be their best self out there.”On wide receiver coach Jason Phillips retiringOct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos wide receivers coach Jason Phillips against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect“That's my dog. I mean, I love that dude,” Marion said. “He's a truth-teller. He keeps it real, which is frowned upon by a lot of people. People want just to be praised and not hear any criticism. But I love [Phillips]. I love what he brought to our team; that'll stay with our players."“The culture that he put in that room, what he taught Coach [Davis] over the years,” Marve said. “He's been developing Coach [Davis] for years, so I'm happy for him to spend time and be with his family and his mom and take care of them when they're in their time of need right now.”“[Phillips] meant a lot to the game of football. He's been in a lot of places and won a lot of games. So obviously, you don't replace a person like that. You just hope to honor them with the way that the receivers play out there on the field.”On if installing the ‘Go-Go’ offense gets easier the more he does itWhen I first learned the West Coast offense when I was in junior college, it was explained to me like it's a language,” Marion said. “So at the time, there were 32 NFL teams, and there were probably like 20 to 24 running the West Coast system. So if you were a player and you got traded on a waiver wire or you got cut, you could go to another team, and you would know the terminology, the verbiage.” “So over the years, being with guys that have called plays in the NFL, guys who have played called plays in college, guys who have called plays in high school, seeing all the different terminology, putting it together, making it mine, and then the four unique formations that we use now,” Marion said. “When I say it to the guys, it's kind of like a language. It's kind of foolproof.”“So now you see multiple teams using it, right? NFL, college, high school, right?” Marion said. “Everybody's kind of adapting some of the plays because the verbiage and terminology is really easy to communicate.”On building the ‘Go-Go’ offense around his players’ strengths“Absolutely, but you have to earn the right for that to happen,” Marion said. “You know the Ricky Whites, the Jacob Days, Jaiden Maiava, all the guys that have been All- Americans in the system, they had to earn the right by playing the right way, doing the little details first. What we do, we're a fundamentally sound offense. We're not going to go out there and lose the game. We're not going to just go do crazy stuff.”“We're not out there just trying to call cool plays and go as fast as we can and throw it out of bounds and clap our hands,” Marion said. “We're trying to actually go win the game, so you have to be able to do the little details right first. Make plays within the small plays, the mundane plays, and then we start to open up and create for you.”On the Colorado Buffaloes being called ‘small’“I have zero reaction,” Marion said. “As the kids would say, pull up. So we're small. We're this. We're that. Whatever. I mean, at some point you've got to spot the ball and see. So that's my mindset.”On the center positionOct 25, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Houston Cougars offensive lineman Demetrius Hunter (59) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“The center always is the engine of the offensive line as far as the communicator and the guy that gets all the guys on the same page going the right way,” Marion said. “In the past I've had an All-American guard who kind of made the calls for the center, but here our centers will probably make the call.” “For the center position, I think we have three really good guys,” Marion said. “Veteran guys who have played the position, have played in big games, who understand what to do, understand communication, understand protections, and what they do. Mostly, that helps young quarterbacks. Look back there, you got an 18-year-old, so you got young guys back there that you're able to help them point in the right direction and get them started.”“Obviously, we're going to be hard on our quarterbacks, and it's always better when the guy who knows the play and can see everything can tell them what to do,” Marion said. “But our centers are definitely going to have some responsibility this year when it comes to calling fronts and identifying the mike and taking care of things like that.”On the centers’ relationships with the quarterbacks“It's been great. Right now, in the early part of camp, it's hot. It's dog days,” Marion said. “So you're worried about just the perfect operation. Quarterback to center exchange, just making sure the snap is perfect. The ball's not on the ground. Today was a good day. We only had one. We had one the entire practice, from quarterback-center exchange.”“We're talking about all the way, all the way through run mesh, all the things that we did throughout the day; we only had one snap that was bad,” Marion said. “With three different centers going, to me, that's a really good practice when you have about 70 reps and team periods, then you have however many individual reps that you have; you only have one bad snap.”“So, that's the most critical thing,” Marion said. “The center is really the first quarterback on the field because he throws the snap in a shotgun operation; he throws the ball to the quarterback every play. So that has got to be crisp and perfect, and that's what we're focused on.”On what has helped his development as a coach in his careerGiants head coach Bill Parcells gets doused with Gatorade with linebackers Lawrence Taylor, left, and Carl Banks, right, after the 20-19 win over the Bills in Superbowl XXV in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 27, 1991