Deion Sanders unleashed Travis Hunter on the world, empowering him to play as many snaps on both sides of the ball as possible, and it resulted in Colorado football adding a second Heisman winner to the late great Rashaan Salan.
USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer called that one of Coach Prime's biggest victories in 2024.
"Colorado won its second Heisman Trophy in school history because Sanders let Travis Hunter do what he wanted to do at the fullest extent: play both ways as a cornerback and receiver. Not many other coaches, if any, would allow this, simply because they’d see it as unnecessary, or as too big of an injury risk, or just too unconventional to be considered," Schrotenboer wrote.
"Not Sanders. He played both ways himself as a player and has shown he’s willing and eager to think outside the box in the quickly changing landscape of college football."
Sanders is the ultimate outside the box thinker. It's resulted in three nine-win seasons in five years coaching. Coach Prime will need to really start thinking outside the box, though. He doesn't have his sons and Travis Hunter to rely on. He's brought on top recruits like Jordan Seaton, Julian Lewis, and Chauncey Gooden, but he won't have his family mouthpieces anymore.
2025 will be a unique challenge for the Buffs. There's a QB question and coaching turnover at key positions that will pose questions Sanders may have to work hard to find the answer to.
Given how outside the box Sanders is, you have to question whether or not he'd find new resources if his progress is stalled out in Boulder.
Things move quickly in this sport. Once upon a time, Sanders was saying he had no intentions of leaving Jackson State and the SWAC. Then "Prime Time" showed up in Boulder.