NCAA lawsuit's timing prevented Coach Prime, Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter from leaving Colorado football
Denver Sports' Jake Shapiro believes that if the lawsuit filed against the NCAA that temporarily suspended the one-year sit-out rule upon transferring for players was filed even 10 days earlier, Coach Prime, Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter -- basically any of the Louis Vuitton baggage he was referring to in his opening press conference as Buffs head coach -- would have bolted the Colorado football program for one of the open job opportunities that've now been filled.
"Had this lawsuit been filed and ruled upon just 10 days before, there’s a world in which another school courts Deion Sanders for an open coaching position, all the while a massive NIL collective goes after the All-American Hunter and Sanders’ sons, quarterback Shedeur and safety Shilo for their team," Shapiro wrote.
"A big reason it wasn’t even a consideration for Sanders to parlay his one-year improvement at Colorado to a bigger institution is that; to bring his three stars with him, they would have had to sit out next fall all the while being NFL Draft eligible since they had transferred from Jackson State to Boulder a year ago."
Colorado football turned offseason around after being left for dead at season's end
Coach Prime was linked most frequently to the Texas A&M opening that Jimbo Fisher's firing left vacant, but Houston was seemingly also an option. Ultimately, Mike Elko and Willie Fritz, respectively, got those jobs -- but Deion Sanders returning to the state of Texas, where he coached his sons in the Dallas area and was a Cowboys star during his playing days, seemed possible.
Fast-forward just a few short weeks, and Coach Prime has a rebuilt offensive line, an OL coach in Phil Loadholt who is addicted to recruiting, and is speaking definitively about finishing his coaching career in Boulder.
In many ways, Shedeur's, Shilo's, and Hunter's eligibility not allowing another transfer made leaving CU off the table for Coach Prime. It was fortunate that this lawsuit against the NCAA waited long enough to give Buffs fans an offseason of hope after a season's end that severely lacked it.
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