Coach Prime's Colorado football staff was deemed less impressive than last season's by On3's Jesse Simonton -- who sees an expedited rebuild for the Buffs into a contender as a longshot despite the added talent on the roster from this offseason.
"Because of all the bluster and talk about ‘Do you believe?’, many viewed Year 1 as a failure for Deion Sanders," Simonton prefaced before saying, "It wasn’t. The Buffs went 4-8 in Coach Prime’s first season in Boulder — a legitimate success story for a team that went 1-11 and lost its last four games by an average of six touchdowns in 2022.
"However, the idea that Sanders is on some fast track to a big, blue-blood job is premature. Sanders doesn’t appear interested in doing what it takes to sustain a long-term rebuild at CU. He’s continued to mostly ignore prep recruiting in favor of hammering the portal. He reshuffled a staff, that on paper, was much more impressive last season."
Sean Lewis to Pat Shurmur at offensive coordinator and Charles Kelly to Robert Livingston at defensive coordinator are, as Simonton said, on-paper downgrades. But Lewis's offense was criticized by Shedeur Sanders -- and Shurmur's was subsequently lauded -- while Kelly isn't even the primary defensive coordinator at Auburn despite being hired before DJ Durkin. If anything, Kelly is a recruiter first, and that skillset isn't as important when Deion Sanders is the head coach.
Deion Sanders leaving Colorado football scenario floated by analyst
Sanders bolting Boulder at the end of the 2024 season, when Shedeur and Shilo Sanders and Travis Hunter declare for the NFL draft, was floated by Simonton as well, and Shelomi Sanders' transfer from JR Payne's Buffs basketball team lends credence to that scenario. Sanders condemning the constant use of marijuana in Colorado, even when kids are around, feels equally as notable.
All we know is that 2024 will feature Prime Weekend and the swan song of Sanders' closest recruits he's ever recruited.