Colorado football: Coach Prime deemed one man with the ego to fill Nick Saban's shoes

FanSided's Mark Powell sees Coach Prime as having the one ego capable of filling Nick Saban's shoes at Alabama after the 72-year-old's retirement. Powell tabbed the Colorado football head coach as someone who can utilize the university's seemingly endless resources effectively.

"...if there's one man with the ego to fill Saban's shoes, perhaps it's Deion Sanders at Colorado," Powell prefaced before saying, "You laugh, surely. Heck, I did too. Some Alabama fans are taking the idea very seriously.

"If there is any coach who can use Alabama's recruiting resources to his advantage, it is Sanders. Not head coach is better at selling himself and his vision. Heck, these two do insurance ads together!"

To be clear, though, Powell doesn't believe the time is now for Deion Sanders to become the Crimson Tide's head coach at this moment.

"I'd be shocked if Alabama considered hiring Sanders after one 4-8 season at Colorado," Powell prefaced before saying, "In fact, it would surprise the entire college football landscape. I believe in Sanders to some extent. Yet, there's a reason he took the CU job in the first place, and that's because he has a lot to prove at this level. Eventually, perhaps Sanders will do just that. But we're not there yet.

"Sanders is a great story and could turn Colorado around. When that occurs, Sanders will be in line of an upgrade. That time is not now."

Red flags would prevent Coach Prime from leaving Colorado football for Alabama

Until a new Alabama head coach is named, Coach Prime's name will be involved in many Saban successor rumors. Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde and Richard Johnson believes that the Sanders-Alabama rumors will be prevented by the red flags raised by Coach Prime's first season at Colorado.

"It’s hard to see a program like Alabama hiring someone with a 4–8 FBS head-coaching record, even if that record was an improvement over recent Colorado history," the SI pair wrote. "Sanders remains an unproven in-game coach and program organizer at the power-conference level. Roster and staff churn at Colorado might raise red flags with Alabama."

It's not happening. But until Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, or someone else is hired at Alabama, we'll continue to talk about it.