Deion Sanders can ‘continue to live off’ his Coach Prime persona at CU

Even if the losses are piling up for a bit, Deion Sanders can continue to live off his Coach Prime persona with Colorado football — this, at least, according to ClutchPoints’ Shane Shoemaker, who made the case based on the Buffaloes’ abysmal 2022 season.

“Sanders, in some ways, is living on his name and persona this season,” Shoemaker prefaced before saying, “And he can somewhat continue to live off that for at least a little while, as he doesn’t have to do much to improve the Colorado football program this season. The Buffaloes were one of the worst teams in college football last year, only winning one game. So, to say he has a lot of leeway at the beginning of his tenure is an understatement. But what can he do after?”

Karl Dorrell’s tenure went up in flames, to the point that the remnants of what he left behind following his firing were only able to knock off Cal. That dumpster fire bought his successor extra time to figure it out, but the intensity and pace of Sanders’ team-clearing/team-rebuilding behaviors have put external pressure on the Buffs to succeed sooner rather than later.

Deion Sanders doing right by Colorado football on the recruiting trail

One would think that Coach Prime could coast on company time, but that’s never been Sanders’ M.O. since becoming a football coach, or before that as a two-pro sport All-Star. Since becoming the head coach of Colorado football, Sanders has brought some of his best Jackson State recruits with him to Boulder, including No. 1 overall 2022 recruit Travis Hunter and his two sons Shedeur and Shilo, and he flipped Cormani McClain from Miami.

The pure volume of turnover by itself is likely to keep the Buffaloes from being great, but win or lose, Coach Prime has earned the right to shine in the spotlight he himself created in Northern Colorado. As long as CU isn’t embarrassing itself on the field, Sanders has the space to get a program that’s been behind back on the map.