Could Deion Sanders really be on the hot seat at Colorado? One writer thinks so.
In the aftermath of UCLA firing DeShaun Foster and Virginia Tech firing Brent Pry, the coaching carousel has already begun spinning, and it's only September. Who might be next? One writer theorizes that it could be Coach Prime after Colorado's disappointing start to the season.
The Sporting News' Emanuel Walker penned a critical piece on Sanders for how much the Buffs have struggled through three weeks, wondering if he can find success in a post-Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders world in Boulder.
""Could Colorado make an unexpected move to fire Deion Sanders? After a 1-2 start, the "Prime Effect" is starting to slowly fade away. The Buffaloes lost a close opener to Georgia Tech, who returned Atlanta to beat No. 12 Clemson this past weekend. However, a 31-7 win over FCS contender Delaware isn't enough to keep the Buffs faithful content with Sanders' progress. We knew this would be the moment in time where Coach Prime's true colors would show. With his sons, Shilo and Shedeur, Travis Hunter and a handful of other playmakers in the NFL, we'll find out how good Sanders' development will be with the current roster.""Emanuel Walker
Deion Sanders is NOT on the hot seat at Colorado - or anywhere close
It certainly makes for a fun narrative nationally, particularly for the vast masses rooting for Sanders to fail as a head coach. But Coach Prime is nowhere close to the hot seat. Not even a complete bottoming out in Boulder this season - and I mean Colorado losing every game from here on out - would lead to a head coaching change.
Sanders has brought relevancy back to Boulder. This was always going to be a difficult rebuild, and perhaps last season's overachievement set unrealistic expectations moving forward. Colorado is still on the upswing, but sometimes you have to take a step backward before you can move forward.
It's important to remember that Sanders took over a fledgling program coming off a 1-11 season in 2022. He immediately raised the national profile, leading to a three-win improvement to 4-8 in 2023. Last season, Colorado jumped all the way to nine wins and tied for first in the Big 12 standings.
Colorado lost quite a bit from last season. It wasn't just Hunter and Sanders; it was their top four receivers, all of their linebackers, and several defensive backs. This year was always going to look like more of a rebuild than a reload.
And it's still early in the season. Sure, Colorado has plenty of questions after a 1-2 start, but it's also important to remember the two losses came against quality opposition. Georgia Tech is 3-0 and just knocked off Clemson. Colorado was in that game late and probably should have won if it could have taken advantage of the three first-quarter turnovers by the Yellow Jackets. The narrative would be quite different if the Buffs were sitting at 2-1 right now.
Houston is a well-coached team on the upswing under Willie Fritz. The performance was disheartening, but the Cougars are a quality team and have a good home environment.
Sanders has a lot of questions to try and find answers to as the Buffs face Wyoming this week before facing eight consecutive conference games.
Bowl eligibility might prove to be the ceiling of this Colorado team. But even if they finish well below that, the administration is fully behind Sanders - they showed it with a contract extension this offseason - and the direction of the program.