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BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders rounded out his Colorado coaching staff by bringing in Robert Livingston as defensive coordinator and sticking with Pat Shurmur to oversee the offense.

In addition, Sanders added Phil Loadholt to revamp a shaky offensive line and Jason Phillips to work with the receivers, the school announced Friday. The Buffaloes also shifted Vincent Dancy from analyst to assistant coach for outside linebackers, and Brett Bartolone from wide receivers to tight ends.

Colorado is coming off a 4-8 season in Year 1 under Sanders. The Buffaloes will soon be moving from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.

Livingston has been tasked with shoring up a defense that surrendered 34.8 points a game in 2023. He has spent eight seasons on the coaching staff with the Cincinnati Bengals, including the past six overseeing the safeties. His experience on the college level involves being the defensive quality control coach at Furman in 2010 and Vanderbilt the following season.

Shurmur will be the primary playcaller this season for the Buffaloes after being promoted from analyst to co-offensive coordinator last season in the midst of the team’s struggles. He shared the role with Sean Lewis, who has since left to become the head coach at San Diego State.

The 58-year-old Shurmur has spent a good portion of his coaching career in the NFL, with roles that have ranged from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator to head coach. He was in charge of the Cleveland Browns from 2011 to ’12, along with serving as the interim coach in Philadelphia in 2015. He also was the head coach of the New York Giants from 2018 to ’19. In addition, he has had stints with the St. Louis Rams, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos.

Shurmur will run an offense that features quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who’s coming off a season in which he threw for a school-record 3,230 yards despite missing the final game because of a fractured bone in his back. Sanders was anticipated to be ready for spring practice, which begins March 18.

Deion Sanders made bulking up the offensive line a priority this offseason after watching his son get sacked 52 times. His new class of highly touted linemen includes five-star prospect Jordan Seaton.

Loadholt was brought in to mesh the offensive line into a cohesive unit. A former tackle for the Vikings, he has had coaching stops at UCF and Ole Miss before spending the past two seasons at Oklahoma as an analyst.

Colorado will hold its black and gold spring game on April 27. The Buffaloes open the season by hosting North Dakota State on Aug. 31. Their first Big 12 game will be Sept. 21 against Baylor at Folsom Field.

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.

The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.

The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.

“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”

Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.

“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”

Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.

“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”

During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.

“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”

Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.

Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.

Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.

Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.

“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”

Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.

“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”

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3B Ramirez (ankle) returns to Guardians’ lineup

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3B Ramirez (ankle) returns to Guardians' lineup

TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.

The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.

Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.

Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.

In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.

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Yankees’ Volpe day-to-day after tests on shoulder

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Yankees' Volpe day-to-day after tests on shoulder

NEW YORK — Shortstop Anthony Volpe was not in the New York Yankees‘ starting lineup Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, a day after he injured his left shoulder on a dive while trying to get to a grounder.

“X-rays, MRI — good news,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s sore today, but I feel like we’re probably in a good spot. We’ll see. Kind of day to day right now.”

Volpe remained in the game after his unsuccessful attempt for a backhand stab on Christopher Morel‘s eighth-inning single, which sparked a two-run rally in Tampa Bay’s 3-2 win Saturday.

Volpe said after the game he heard a pop in the shoulder.

“It’s a little unclear in there. He’s got some stuff that they feel like is older stuff, so hard to know exactly,” Boone said. “He’s definitely a little cranky in the shoulder today.”

Volpe, 24, is hitting .233 with five homers, 19 RBIs and four stolen bases in his third season with the Yankees.

Oswald Peraza was listed to start at shortstop, batting ninth.

New York already is missing second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (strained right oblique), third baseman DJ LeMahieu (strained left calf), ace Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) and right-hander Luis Gil (right lat strain), the reigning AL Rookie of the Year.

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