Greg McElroy isn't overly optimistic that Deion Sanders' Colorado football program will meet the gaudy expectations many will give the Buffs ahead of the 2024 season -- revealing on April 4 that he expects a .500 season or a seven-win season at best following a 4-8 debut campaign for Coach Prime and Co.
“You also think too, and I thought this quote was telling, from Deion Sanders," McElroy prefaced before saying, "‘Last year we were seven points away from seven or eight more wins. We just didn’t know how to win. We got our butts kicked twice. Several of those games we could have won, we could have definitely been a bowl team. We made noise, but now we’re going to make some sounds.’ That’s great. Yes, you were very, very close in several games. The Stanford game comes to mind. A few others down the stretch where I thought they played a little bit better on the defensive side, but we’ve heard that before. How many times have we said in the last few years, ‘Well, Nebraska lost a lot of close games. That things gonna flip.’ But close losses don’t always flip into wins the following year.
"So, while I think the Buffs will be better, the hype is probably going to have them in the preseason Top 25. It will probably have them as a fringe, darkhorse, College Football Playoff contender, I don’t think that’s likely. I think they’ll make some noise. I think they’ll be an exciting team to watch, but I think six, seven wins would a great step in the right direction for Deion here in year number two.”
Deion Sanders leaving Colorado football if Buffs disappoint in 2024 feels more real after Shelomi Sanders' transfer
Shelomi Sanders' transfer from CU makes Coach Prime leaving Boulder, at least after a disappointing season, a more realistic scenario. Deion has bragged about having everything he needs in Boulder County, but when Shedeur and Shilo go to the NFL and Shelomi finds a new home, he'll have significantly less.
Will Coach Prime want to stick in Colorado by himself in the cold as a Florida-born man who made his name in the Lone Star State and Atlanta? That remains to be seen.
Especially if Shelomi ends up at a program like Texas Tech as is being rumored.