It’s rare when widespread attention is focused on a team that went 1-11 last season, and even stranger when that same team gets its season opener on national television. But that is precisely what is happening at the University of Colorado, which has been a news magnet for months. That’s because this is the place Deion Sanders landed in his first Power 5 coaching job. Sanders has been the talk of the college football world, pro and con, since he let Jackson State to take the Buffaloes head job. It’s been quite an eventful six months for Sanders, whose Colorado squad will be on national television as part of Fox’s Big Saturday opening weekend coverage Sept. 2. They get to begin the year against TCU, the team that just happened to be the national runner-up last season to Georgia.
Sanders said publicly when he came to Colorado he wasn’t going to do things the usual way, and he certainly proved that was the case. Using an NCAA rule change implemented in 2021 that allows undergraduate players to transfer to other teams without first sitting out a year of competition, Sanders managed one way or another to get 41 out of 51 returning scholarship players to depart. They either transferred or left the team. In their place, Sanders has built a roster of transfers that is considered the number one set in the nation. He’s brought in a total of 68 new scholarship players since early December. The school confirmed that number for the NCAA June 20. But even some of them didn’t stay. Four transfer players Sanders brought into Colorado for the spring turned around and left before the summer. Defensive lineman Taylor Upshaw came to Colorado from Michigan as a graduate transfer but now is at Arizona. Cornerback Tayvion Beasley also came with Sanders from Jackson State but since has moved on to San Diego State. 46 of the players were four-year transfers. 17 are incoming freshman. He brought nine with him from Jackson State, and there are others who are either from junior colleges or other Power 5 schools. Sanders has been publicly confident about his roster, saying he thinks his team can compete in its first year.
The school also has made noise by opting to leave the Pac-12 and return to the Big 12. That move will come next season, but it was approved unanimously by the trustees. Some coaches are rooting for Sanders, particularly the handful of fellow Blacks in major college football coaching. Michigan State’s Mel Tucker for instance was very positive about Sanders. “Yeah, Prime has done a great job so far. I’m pulling for him and the Buffs to get that thing going again. And, you know, he’s got his own process that he’s following obviously, and I think he’s gonna be wildly successful there,” Tucker said according to the Detroit Free Press.
But not everyone in the coaching profession is thrilled with what Sanders is doing.
.Oklahoma Sooners coach Brent Venables, who took over the job last season following Lincoln Riley’s departure, questioned Sanders’ transfer portal tactics. Speaking to KREF radio, Venables stated:
“You know, I gave guys 12 months of grace. I was unlike Deion [Sanders]. I gave guys 12 months of grace to figure it out. Here’s the three, you know, go to class, you know, live right off the field, and when you show up, man. You show up with respect and appreciation for your opportunity.”
Of course the difference here is Venables inherited a team that went 11-2. Sanders got one that might have been the worse in Power 5 football. Whether it’s fair to essentially cut college players can be debated, but it’s quite clear that Venables was operating from a position of strength, something that could hardly be said of Sanders. However coaching criticism is far from the toughest thing Sanders has been battling recently. There were some questions about his health, but those have now reportedly been answered in a satisfactory manner.
Sanders returned to the team last week after undergoing a successful follow-up surgery to remove blood clots in his right leg and straighten out two toes on his left foot.
A post on Sanders’ Instagram account showed the happy coach even singing and dancing in his office on his first day back.
Sanders’ son, Deion Sanders Jr., wrote a caption: “My dads 1st day back In the office and he was happy as can be! Even tho he’s supposed to be at home resting… but he said “I’ve got to see my Dogs” ! #Push#CoachPrime We’re about to shake up college football like never b4!”
News emerged last Friday regarding Sanders’ successful surgery via his girlfriend, Tracey Edmonds, on Instagram: “Thank you Lord for another successful surgery!!,” Edmonds wrote.
“We thank you for giving #CoachPrime @deionsanders the strength to fight these challenges and we have Faith that you will give him the VICTORY! We are so GRATEFUL for all the doctors, nurses, and staff who have blessed him on his road to recovery! And we thank ALL OF YOU for your BEAUTIFUL prayers! They bring tears to my eyes when I read them and they fill us with HOPE and STRENGTH! God bless all of you!”
Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly also confirmed to ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura at Pac-12 media day, which Sanders was forced to miss due to the procedure, that everything went well.
“I texted him before he had the procedure done and after it was done,” Kelly said. “He said everything went good.”
.So now he can focus his attention on the field. Whether Deion Sanders can repeat the amazing coaching feats he performed at Jackson State, where he transformed what had been a losing squad into a powerhouse, only time will tell. But he’s already gotten major exposure for and attention on a team that before now has only been a national joke.
