Coach Prime sent a definitive message during an interview with NBC News NOW's Savannah Sellers published on December 9 regarding his Colorado football future -- mainly, that Boulder is the only college football town he ever sees himself, even after his kids leave the University of Colorado.
"I love Boulder, Colorado and Colorado," Deion Sanders told Sellers (h/t BuffsBeat). "I'm not chasing finance. I'm not chasing the bag. I'm not chasing notoriety. I'm not chasing hype. I love what I do and I do what I love... and I love Boulder, Colorado. I don't plan on being anywhere else in my coaching career."
CU, unlike Jackson State, is the kind of program Sanders could stay with for years, if not decades, and make an impact on the sport at the national level. Having last won in 1990, much of the college football-viewing world was alive when the Buffs were last on top. For the first time since at least Mike MacIntyr's tenure, but probably even further back in time than that, a College Football Playoff appearance is on the table with Coach Prime fortifying the offensive line in front of Shedeur Sanders with the additions of 5-star+ 2024 OT Jordan Seaton, Houston's Tyler Johnson, and UConn's Yakiri Walker.
But about Shedeur, and for that matter, Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter, who are all likely about to play in their final seasons at Colorado...
Coach Prime often predicted to leave Colorado football after two years
The most oft-mentioned timeline for Coach Prime in Colorado is staying for the 2024 season and looking for greener pastures in 2025.
College football insider Bruce Feldman predicted a post-2024 season exit as the end of Coach Prime's CU tenure.
"Two years from now? After the 2024 season? I would not be surprised if Deion Sanders is not the head coach at Colorado," Feldman said (h/t AthlonSports). "I just don’t think that he is going to be there that long. It’ll either go really well. They were horrible before. So he goes from one win last year to maybe four or five this year. And then maybe eight or nine. Then I think he goes to a bigger school. Or it will not work out at all and they will all be at odds. I think there’s a lot of stuff that has the potential to create a lot of friction. If it doesn’t go great, then I think they go in a different direction."
Ralphie Report's Ryland Scholes similarly predicted a two-and-done Deion era of Colorado football.
"Money probably isn’t playing a big factor in Coach Prime’s decision to stay in Boulder, but the future of his kids and star players is," Scholes wrote. "Deion is extremely unlikely to leave Colorado until Shedeur and Travis Hunter declare for the NFL Draft, which seem like it’ll be after the 2024 season. Coach Prime is going to stay put in Boulder, at least one more year. There’s going to come a time when Buffs fans should actually worry about Coach Prime leaving Boulder, but that time is at least a year out."
Who knows how this plays out. If you take Coach Prime at his word, though, we all now know how this will play out.