FOUNTAIN — It’s a name that screams bright lights and eye-popping highlights.
Yet while Gideon Lampron — Gideon ESPN Lampron, that is — plans to provide plenty of highlights at his new home, he remains a blue collar, hard-nosed Midwest kid at heart.
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Expected to play a key role in CU’s revamped defense, Lampron has challenged himself by moving out of his comfort zone for his final season of college football, both with his ascension to the power conference level and by taking his life’s journey beyond the borders of Ohio.
Lampron might still be getting used to wearing black and gold. But he’s one of a trio of transfer additions aiming to turn the linebacker spot into a position of strength for the Buffs.
“The goal was always to play versus the best competition that you can possibly get to,” Lampron said. “Coming to Colorado gave me the opportunity. The Big 12 is great football. Obviously, I’ve only been in Ohio my whole life. So coming and living by mountains was definitely interesting to me. It was just an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”
A native of LaGrange in north central Ohio, Lampron began his collegiate career just a few hours down the road at Dayton, where he was named a first team FCS All-American in 2024 after leading a Flyers defense to an FCS-low 242.9 yards allowed per game.
Lampron decided it was time for a new challenge, even if it wasn’t time yet to leave Ohio. After transferring to Bowling Green, Lampron continued his hard-hitting ways, becoming the only player in the nation to record at least 100 tackles during the regular season with 15 tackles for loss.
A chance encounter with CU head coach Deion Sanders on a shared flight led to an offer for Lampron to join the Buffaloes. Going through his first preseason, with the Buffaloes spending the opening week training at Fountain-Fort Carson High School, new defensive coordinator Chris Marve said establishing the defense’s new tenets is an early priority.
“I think they’re communicating really well. They’re playing together,” Marve said. “We preach a lot about violence and aggression. Relentless effort. I think that’s been pretty visible.”
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Lampron isn’t the only transfer trying to reshape the Buffs’ linebacker corps.
CU also added former Texas linebacker Liona Lefau and former New Mexico State linebacker Tyler Martinez. Lefau played 42 games with the Longhorns, staring 12 games last year. Martinez endured an injury-shortened season at New Mexico State last year but still earned second team All-Conference USA honors.
While specific roles still will be defined over the next few weeks, Marve said earlier this week, “They’re (all) going to play. I’ll leave it at that.”
As for that middle name of Lampron’s, it was the result of his avid sports fan father scribbling it in on his new son’s birth certificate. The unusual yet ubiquitous moniker has brought Lampron a wealth of extra attention, and it’s bound to be a busy talking point on any CU football broadcast airing on the network Lampron is named after.
Yet after making a name for himself back home in Ohio, Lampron is more than eager to do the same at the Big 12 level with the Buffs.
“Coming to camp, it’s still just football. Just different colors,” Lampron said. “A hundred percent, the stakes are higher for all of us here, especially coming to turn around what happened last year. I can speak probably for the transfers, it does feel slightly different coming in under these circumstances.”
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