On3's Jesse Simonton gave a fair, and favorable, assessment of Coach Prime's first season leading the Colorado football program -- acknowledging that the goalposts constantly shifting made it hard to see the forest through the trees given the constantly raised expectations as the season progressed.
"No first-year head coach was under a greater microscope than Deion Sanders, and although the goalposts constantly shifted throughout the Buffs’ season, Colorado’s 4-8 record should be viewed as a successful season," Simonton wrote. "Sanders brought Colorado the energy, juice, and exposure (sellout crowds, multiple Big Noon Saturday games) the program desperately desired.
"The Buffs stunned TCU, upset Nebraska and pushed USC and Arizona to the brink. The season ended in a whimper, but Sanders has reloaded in the transfer portal again to gun for a bowl game in 2024."
Of course, the season was far from an A+ effort, with Simonton acknowledging the structural instability of Coach Prime's coaching staff.
"Still, there have been some concerning hiccups — from demoting Sean Lewis, to throwing (the OL he recruited via the portal) under the bus and mostly ignoring high school recruiting in the 2024 cycle," Simonton wrote.
Coach Prime's controversy turned analysts against his Colorado football program permanently
A certain sect of talking heads were never going back when it came to Coach Prime after he cut more than 50 players and then made controversial comments about the status of his recruits' parents needing to be different at different positions.
In fact, it's somewhat rare to see someone like Simonton step up and acknowledge the, at times, poignant slants on Deion Sanders and his program.
For every B grade for Coach Prime's debut in Boulder, you'll see another 10 Ds. It's the nature of the beast for the man who calls himself "Prime Time" who hasn't backed away from controversy -- and has instead arguably leaned into it -- in his second act as a college football head coach.