Colorado maintained its recruiting momentum Tuesday, earning a pledge from former Northern Arizona and JUCO transfer Zach Blackwood.

Blackwood attended Garden City Community College last season after redshirting at NAU, taking an official visit to Boulder last weekend before making the decision to commit Tuesday night. He spoke with 247Sports about his commitment prior to his announcement:

“I want to be coached by the best and there’s no opportunity in college football like this one!”

He made an impact at the JUCO level too, totaling 42 tackles and 4 sacks as a 2nd year freshman last season.

And he’ll have a long list of people to outplay for minutes this fall. Colorado has added a host of DL transfers this offseason, including Ole Miss’ JJ Hawkins and Fresno State’s Leonard Payne Jr.

Blackwood is the 4th JUCO addition in the 2023 class.