Josh Chandler-Semedo making smooth transition to CU Buffs

Aug. 26—Right away, Josh Chandler-Semedo was in awe of the view as he drove on Highway 36 into Boulder this summer.

"That's stuff you won't see back home on the East Coast," said Chandler-Semedo, a senior linebacker at Colorado and transfer from West Virginia.

The Flatirons made an impression, too.

"I went up to the Flatirons on probably my third day out here," he said. "It was the scariest thing I ever did, but I've been waiting to get back.

"I'm loving Boulder, honestly. I love the environment, I love the way it looks. It's beautiful out here."

After four years in Morgantown, W.V., the native of Canton, Ohio, has embraced Boulder and, by all accounts, has made a seamless transition to the Buffs, where he's expected to have a significant impact in his only season at CU.

Head coach Karl Dorrell said Chandler-Semedo is already becoming one of the Buffs' top leaders, despite arriving just three months ago. Senior linebacker Quinn Perry is among several players who have praised the addition of the talented transfer.

"Josh is a great player," Perry said. "He adds the versatility to the group and he also adds a lot of competition. He raises my game, I raise his game. So I think it's a great addition to the group and he can play any position. He's a great player and a great guy."

At West Virginia, Chandler-Semedo played in 44 games, with 31 starts, racking up 260 tackles. Last year, he led the Mountaineers with 110 tackles. He was All-Big 12 honorable mention twice (2021 and 2019) in his career and earned his bachelor's degree a year ago.

Chandler-Semedo had the opportunity to return to West Virginia for his final year but chose a fresh start.

"I got there in December of 2017 and had been there forever, seeing coaching staffs change, seeing friends leave; people I consider family now," he said. "I fulfilled my scholarship and had an extra year and wanted to do something different."

With star linebacker Nate Landman graduating and moving on to the NFL, the Buffs were looking to fill a void. Chandler-Semedo played inside and outside with the Mountaineers and that versatility added to CU's interest. Dorrell viewed Chandler-Semedo as West Virginia's Landman.

"He was a no-brainer," Dorrell said. "When you watched him on tape and what he was doing, it was like, 'How can we get this guy in our program that had that kind of experience and production?'"

Chandler-Semedo connected with Dorrell, linebackers coach Mark Smith and the rest of the CU staff and that made his decision easy.

"Me and the guys were literally just talking about that — we have one of the best coaching staffs in America," Chandler-Semedo said. "(There are coaches) who played in the league, who have seen what it looks like. That's something that I wanted. That's something that I haven't had before. They have a different insight of how to teach things, how to see it. They're helping me advance my knowledge to hopefully prepare me for the next level."

For this year, the Buffs are excited about what Chandler-Semedo adds to the defense. He will team with Perry and senior Robert Barnes to lead the linebacker group, but has more position flexibility than the others.

"He's done a little bit of everything," Smith said. "We've cross-trained him here, as well, so he can play any of our three positions, depending on what personnel grouping we have in the game. That just comes with experience. That's not something you can put on a young player ... but when you have a guy like Josh, who has that kind of experience in his background, it makes it an easy transition."

So far, Chandler-Semedo has seemingly made a smooth transition, and he's proven to be a playmaker in practice. He's now eager to get rolling on game days.

"I love ball. I love the games. I love night games," he said. "All you really hear on the East Coast is Pac-12 at night, so I'm looking forward to (that). I heard Folsom rocks. It's basically like a mirror image of Morgantown for me. When that place was packed out, it was legit.

"I love the environment. I love the game, played a lot of games, been successful in a lot of games. I feel like that kind of just gives me the edge."