Colorado State head coach Jim Mora announced Saturday that defensive coordinator Tyson Summers has been fired following the team’s 56-26 loss to Oregon State.
Kenny McClendon took over the defensive play during that contest and Mora said Summers “left the field” after the demotion.
After starting 2-0, the Rams lost three straight, giving up an average of 52 points per game in losses to BYU, UTSA and Oregon State.
Beavers quarterback Braden Atkinson shredded the Colorado State defense Saturday with 413 yards and five touchdowns through the air, completing 30 of 34 passes. This came a week after UTSA racked up 542 total offensive yards and 59 points on the Rams’ defense, and two weeks after BYU rushed for 332 yards against them.
Needless to say, changes were needed.
Summers, 46, was in his second stint as the school’s defensive coordinator, a role he first held for one season in 2015 before becoming the head coach at Georgia Southern. He returned to Fort Collins in 2025 as defensive coordinator and also served as interim head coach for five games following the firing of Jay Norvell.
Mora was then hired and kept Summers on board to run the defense. It was a short relationship, however, and many omens suggested that a divorce was inevitable. Before this week’s game against Oregon State, Mora made it clear that he expected Summers to simplify his defensive scheme.
“Players, whatever their level, whatever their level of intelligence, can’t understand a lot of things in a football match. It’s chaos,” he told reporters. “When you find yourself in situations where your players are not playing fast because they are unsure, it is extremely important that you reduce the package.”
“That’s why I say we have to do a better job. We can’t wait to change things. It’s too late and it’s not fair to our players,” he added. “You have to be extremely demanding of your players but you have to be precise about what you demand of them. It’s not easy. It’s complicated, but you have to simplify it.”
This apparently didn’t sit well with Mora, to the point where Summers is no longer with the program.
Gn sports
