Tag: Louis Passarello

Colorado tight end Louis Passarello medically retires from college football, per report

Promising tight end Louis Passarello has reportedly put an end to his college football career

Louis Passarello, one of Colorado’s few pre-Deion Sanders “Original Buffaloes,” has decided to medically retire from college football, according to BuffZone’s Brian Howell.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end spent three seasons with the Buffs but never saw playing time, largely due to multiple injuries. Coming off a standout spring camp in 2023, he suffered a season-ending knee injury that ultimately allowed walk-on Michael Harrison to assume Colorado’s starting TE spot.

On July 10, BuffStampede’s Adam Munsterteiger reported that Passarello was no longer on the Buffs’ roster.

Passarello was a three-star prospect (per 247Sports) in the 2020 recruiting class out of Palo Alto High School in California. He committed to Colorado in October 2019, about midway through Mel Tucker’s lone season leading the Buffs.

With Coach Prime’s second fall camp in Boulder about to begin, Ohio State Buckeyes transfer and Colorado native Sam Hart appears to be CU’s top option at tight end.

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Key Colorado TE to miss an extended period after suffering knee injury

A key member of Colorado’s TEs room will miss an extended period of time due to an injury

When I asked head coach Deion Sanders about Colorado’s tight ends room last week, he caught me off guard when he disclosed that members of the group are dealing with injuries. On Thursday, we received confirmation of those words as TEs coach Tim Brewster said that Louis Passarello sustained a knee injury that will keep him sidelined for an extended period (h/t Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede).

It’s sobering news as Passarello had taken hold of the starting job in spring ball and looked to have developed into a starting caliber contributor for the Buffs.

Combine this with Caleb Fauria dealing with injuries — although he’s expected to work his way back soon — and the TEs room looks thin. But hope is coming in the form of walk-on Michael Harrison, who moved from wide receiver to TE.

Harrison has bulked up to 225 pounds after making the position change and received praise from Brewster (h/t Neill Woelk of CUBuffs.com):

“My profile for a tight end is a receiver-trained guy, a guy that’s got receiving ability,” Brewster said. “Then what I love to do is impose my mindset, impose my will on them to make them physical in the run game. You don’t have to be a road grader, but you have to fundamentally compete on every snap. Mike has embraced that. He’s gotten bigger. He’s not a liability in the run game and he can be a real plus in the pass game.”

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Five things to know about Colorado TE Louis Passarello

Get to know spring football standout Louis Passarello

When I recently ranked the top players on Colorado’s current roster, I mentioned that there was still a chance that a late addition could blow up my rankings.

If we look at the players who were in Boulder pre-Deion Sanders, Louis Passarello has a great opportunity to make my ranking look silly. Passarello has not seen much playing time in Colorado since signing in 2020, but he impressed this spring and earned the starting nod at tight end for the first-team offense during the spring game. He also impressed coaches enough to earn his jersey number.

Here are five things you need to know about Passarello:

CU Buffs TE Louis Passarello earns his digits

Louis Passarello’s work this spring hasn’t gone unnoticed

The Colorado Buffaloes are in the heart of spring practice with the first spring game under new head coach Deion Sanders scheduled for April 22.

This spring, players will have to earn their jersey number, and a number of Buffs have already taken theirs. Another joined that group on Thursday in tight end Louis Passarello, who will wear No. 89 this fall.

Passarello, a tight end from Palo Alto, California, saw limited action on special teams last fall but judging by his showing this spring, he could be on his way to accomplishing big things in 2023.

He joins Jimmy Horn Jr. (5), Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (7), Travis Hunter (12), LaVonta Bentley (20), Isaac Hurtado (29), Trevor Woods (43), Jordan Domineck (44) and Shane Cokes (99) as those who have been awarded their number.

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Every CU Buffs player to earn their jersey number so far this spring

These players have all earned their jersey number so far this spring

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders does things a little unorthodox at times. None of his players started spring football with numbers on their jerseys. Rather, they have to earn them with their play and work ethic.

With the spring game coming up and spring practice underway, quite a few players have already earned jersey numbers.

A few of the big-name transfers have their numbers sealed, but a few other players are notably missing. It’s a different approach, but it will be interesting to see if it pays off.

Nonetheless, here’s a rundown of all the Buffs who have earned their numbers so far this spring:

Four scholarship Buffs listed as injured prior to Saturday practice

A few scholarship Buffs are dealing with injuries this fall camp

Colorado football held an open practice to the media on Saturday and five Buffs — four of them scholarship — were listed as inured on the roster handed to the media.

In addition to walk-on OL Camden Dempsey, safety Oakie Salave’a, OL Edgar Amaya, TE Louis Passarello and DL Allan Baugh were all named. The nature and timetable for their returns were not disclosed.

Overall, the Buffs have stayed healthy (knock on wood) so far in camp. Karl Dorrell mentioned on Saturday that incoming transfers RJ Sneed and Tommy Brown have recently undergone minor procedures, but he expects them to return to practice on Monday.

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Previewing Colorado football’s 2022 offense

After going position-by-position last month, we broke down CU’s entire offense and looked at the best and worst-case scenarios

Last month, we broke down the offense position-by-position to see where the Colorado Buffaloes stood before fall camp starts. You can find each of those breakdowns listed below:

The Buffaloes’ offense will be going through quite the transition this year as they only have four to five solid starters back. Numerous players will be battling for those other starting spots while an influx of new coaches brings a few new philosophies and plays to Boulder.

Let’s now tie a bow on the offensive outlook for the 2022 season: