Colorado football's Julian Lewis backup plan shows Deion Sanders isn't afraid of anyone

Deion Sanders and Colorado football are coming. They're coming for the Big 12 and they're coming for a 5-star QB from the 2025 class. And if it's not Julian Lewis, the QB Shedeur Sanders specifically wants to replace him, it could be Alabama commit Keelon Russell.

Yup. Coach Prime is going after the Crimson Tide's Jalen Milroe successor. Sanders is picking the bones of an Alabama team that just lost to Vanderbilt, aiming to capitalize on Colorado's current momentum.

Coach Prime is not afraid of anyone. Surely not Kalen DeBoer, who has lost his fanbase with his attire. Sanders can't relate. He has Buffs fans donning his cowboy hat, sunglasses, and gold chain in the stands at Folsom Field.

Sanders isn't afraid of Nick Saban, either. Saban is still on salary with the Crimson Tide and has an office at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The college football coaching G.O.A.T. is very much still involved in the recruiting process in Tuscaloosa. Not like he used to, but he still is.

Coach Prime is coming for the top dogs' top dogs. Flipping Lewis from USC would be a statement, but flipping Russell from Alabama would signal a seismic shift in the sport.

Deion Sanders says he doesn't like modern recruiting but he sure seems pretty good at it

Sanders has spoken to the unfortunate reality of modern recruiting, but at the collegiate level, he's essentially only recruited that way. Coach Prime's first year as HC, at Jackson State, was during a pandemic-shortened 2020 season played in the spring of 2021.

Sanders can say he empathizes with the Sabans of the world who saw the game pass them by, but he's not part of that old guard. Coach Prime is the perfect example of how to navigate this new fast-paced world of rapid flips and transfers.

Flipping Russell would be the clearest proof of that concept possible.