Everywhere Deion Sanders has gone folks have their eyes on him. As one of the most iconic athletes in NFL history, Sanders is taking over college football in a way that has never been seen before.
“Coach Prime” as most call him is known for the primetime plays he made a few decades ago. Plays that made you look at the person beside you watching the game with your jaw on the floor. Then, becoming one of the elites enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The man with arguably the biggest bust in Canton won two Super Bowls and appeared in a World Series while playing Major League Baseball.
Sanders was a dynamic shutdown corner forcing 56 interceptions and scoring on nine of his returns. What made him even more special was at kick returner with six punt return touchdowns and three on kicks.
The moment Prime made it on campus in Jackson State folks all around the football world had their eyes in Jackson, (Miss.). The famed HBCU program had struggled to stay competitive after Rick Comegy left to take a job at Mississippi Valley. The Tigers won 22 games from 2014-2019 before Sanders arrival.
Now, Sanders is tasked with rebooting a Colorado program that has finished with a winning record in three seasons since 2006. They scratched the bottom of the barrel several times. The Buffaloes fateful even made a few good hires during this stretch including Mel Tucker (2019), Mike McIntyre (2013-2018), Dan Hawkins (2006-2010).
Needless to say this is the hardest job in college football to win at a level and sustain that success over time. Colorado isn’t the place to recruit at a high level, a job where coaching careers come to die and it certainly isn’t a place where winning comes easy.
Some things are worth the wait or fighting for. Colorado has that now. They have a coach who will recruit his tail off, a coach who won’t accept losing and a guy who will elevate their program to a level they haven’t seen since the days of Gary Barnett and Rick Neuheisel.
Sanders has IT. That’s what athletic directors around the country are looking for when making hires. We can almost all agree that players flock to him for due the charisma he displays and energy he brings to the room. The Buffaloes head coach has the opportunity to bring eyes to a program similar to what Eric Musselman has done in basketball with Arkansas. Rebuilding a once proud, national power through marketing and excitement.
Colorado signed a very good class according to their standards, sitting at 22nd in the rankings when it comes to high school plus transfers on 247sports. They flipped Dylan Edwards commitment to Notre Dame, Nebraska commit Omarion Miller and signed Adam Hopkins who was once an Auburn commit all on early National Signing Day.
The Buffaloes also had an incredible transfer haul for a roster that needed flipping to be competitive. The list includes quite a few notable players like Jimmy Horn (USF), Travis Hunter (Jackson State), Sheduer Sanders (Jackson State), Vonta Bentley (Clemson) and Taijh Alston (West Virginia).
With a slogan of “I’m Comin’” it’s hard not to want to jump on board and buy stock in this. Sanders knows what he is doing and more than likely he’ll get the Jimmy’s and Joe’s needed to get his new program back on track.