Colorado Coach Fights Tears Remembering His QB Dominiq Ponder: “We’ll Save a Spot in the Room”

Brennan Marion tried to get through it. He really did. But when the Colorado offensive coordinator described walking into the quarterback meeting room without Dominiq Ponder sitting there early, as he always was, his voice cracked.

“You see somebody every day, every morning,” Marion said Monday. “We’ll just save a spot for him in the room.”

That was the moment that defined the first spring press conference for the Colorado Buffaloes. Not scheme. Not depth charts. Not the debut of Marion’s high-tempo Go-Go offense.

Ponder, 23, died early Sunday in a single-car accident in Boulder County. He was entering his second season in Boulder after transferring in 2024 from Bethune–Cookman Wildcats. While he was battling for opportunity on the field, coaches said his impact off it was undeniable.

Marion had only coached him for a few months, but the quarterback’s work ethic immediately stood out.

“In an era where you have to force people to work hard, you had to tell Dom to stop working so hard,” Marion said. “He flash-carded my whole entire playbook. Every play.”

He showed up for the 5:30 a.m. meetings before everyone else. He drove freshman quarterbacks to practice. He helped younger players digest a complex new system. Teammates said if you needed something, clarity, encouragement, or even access to a locked clubhouse, Dom handled it.

When Marion received the phone call from Ponder’s father on Sunday, he said he froze while playing with his son. “I just stopped,” he said. “I couldn’t move.”

Across the facility, the shock hit just as hard. Head coach Deion Sanders gave players the option to cancel Monday’s practice. They chose to work.

“And we decided as a team, Dom wouldn’t miss the day,” safety Ben Finneseth said. “That’s what he would have wanted for us.”