Colorado’s issues ‘might take another offseason or two’ to reach Coach Prime’s standards

For those hoping for an immediate turnaround for the Colorado football program after a season with bowl ineligibility became a season that may not see more than four wins, BuffZone’s Brian Howell has the worst possible news for you: it may take an offseason or two for Coach Prime’s standard to be met.

“In the wake of Friday night’s disastrous meltdown against Stanford, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders spoke of issues that may not be so easy to fix,” Howell prefaced before saying, “Issues that might take another offseason – or two – to correct for the Buffaloes to reach Sanders’ lofty standard.”

As Coach Prime’s postgame speech after the stunning Stanford double-overtime upset indicated, the Deion Sanders standard is far from being met at this moment.

“What I just said in the locker room to the team is they gotta make up in their mind, are they in love with this game or are they in like with it? Because when you love something you give to it unconditionally, you give everything you’ve got to it,” Sanders said on October 13 after the 46-43 result at Folsom Field. “But when you like it, it’s just the button you push and it lights up in a ‘like.’ That’s what they do on social media.”

Colorado football may not have two offseasons to right the ship

Colorado did themselves no favors by setting such high expectations after dazzling in Coach Prime’s debut during a 45-42 instant classic against TCU and blowing out Nebraska 36-14 in Week 2 in Sanders’ first appearance in Boulder because every week since they’ve disappointed to a degree — besides a USC matchup they lost by “only” seven.

After those first two games, the Buffs were seen as supposed to be handling Colorado State, but they didn’t. CU was supposed to handle ASU on the road, but instead, it came down to a game-winning field goal. Colorado was supposed to head into the bye week riding high off a confidence-building blowout of Stanford, and, well…

You get it by now that this season’s narrative is beyond lost. If there’s a repeat performance next season, though, there may not be a third offseason for Sanders and Co. to build a winner in Boulder.

Because if things get bad enough, Coach Prime will look elsewhere.