OregonLive’s Joe Freeman had quite the hyperbolic take on what Deion Sanders has done to the Colorado football program since his hiring in December 2022: that the Buffs went from a “laughingstock” program to relevancy with Coach Prime in the fold.
“Sanders has taken his arrogance and showmanship to Boulder, Colorado, where, by simply showing up, he has singlehandedly catapulted a laughingstock program into relevancy,” Freeman wrote. “The Buffaloes went 1-11 last season and haven’t had a winning record since 2016, but they are drawing daily national attention like it’s 1990 because of their new coach — even though he hasn’t coached a game for them yet.
“…love him or loathe him, you have to give him credit: He knows how to stir up an audience. Colorado is headed toward another forgettable season in 2023, when it will open against TCU, play in a conference that features five preseason top five teams and compete with an inferior roster.”
ESPN analyst believes Colorado football will remain a laughingstock under Coach Prime
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach doesn’t believe things will get better for Colorado football program under new leadership — predicting that all of the turnover and pageantry will lead to similar results on the field in 2023.
“There has been plenty of hype and controversy surrounding Deion Sanders’ move from FCS program Jackson State to Colorado in the offseason,” Schlabach said (h/t Saturday Out West). “The Buffaloes are going to be one of the most compelling teams in the country, but they’re not going to be very good. Colorado went 1-11 last season, 1-8 in the Pac-12. Sanders and his staff tried to trade out beans and franks ingredients for beef Wellington overnight, but it won’t make much of a difference. It wouldn’t be surprising to see TCU hang half-a-hundred on the Buffaloes in the Sept. 2 opener.”
Schlabach certainly took the road more traveled on that one. A foolish mistake a majority of analysts could be taking doubting a talented Buffs roster.