Deion Sanders recently went over some Colorado football stats, like leading the Big 12 in sacks or being one of only five teams nationally to have four different receivers record a 100-yard game.
“For the first time since Moby Dick was a Roach, we’ve increased sales three times in three consecutive games,” Prime joked.
“Road wins back-to-back for the first time since I had a curl,” he said with a laugh.
Colorado is 5-2 and hosts Cincinnati on Saturday (10:15 p.m. ET) in a game with significant stakes in the Big 12 championship race and a possible automatic bid to the College Football Playoff. It will take place (again) in a sold-out Folsom Field and will be broadcast (again) on national television (ESPN).
“We earned where we are,” Coach Prime said. “We actually feel like we’re better than what we are. Because we are only just beginning to see the fruits of the labor and understanding the expectations we have for ourselves. Forget what others have for us, but what we have for ourselves.”
Sanders arrived in Boulder to much fanfare and much criticism. He made no apologies for walking away from players he didn’t believe in and bringing a new squad (“my Louis”) through the transfer portal.
There was a lot of bold talk and brash goal setting. The Buffaloes were an instant television hit, but there was a lot of backlash to a program that some thought had proven nothing. Last year they started fast, but finished 4-8.
Well, here we are, and with each successive strong performance, Prime’s path seems like a winning one. There are still five games left in the 2024 season, so anything can happen in terms of final record.
Still, any judgment on Sanders’ Colorado program must be made against the backdrop of what he inherited: the worst major program in the country.
The 2022 Buffs went 1-11 and struggled to draw much of a crowd or any national attention. Not only was this the program’s 16th losing season in 17 years, it was non-competitive. They lost those 11 games by an average of 32.4 points. They gave up 50 more touchdowns than they scored.
Sanders would become their ninth head coach – full-time or interim – since 2010.
Now they boast both an exciting two-way Heisman Trophy candidate (Travis Hunter) and a likely first-round pick at quarterback (Shadeur Sanders) and are even asked if they wish they didn’t have to be on national television so often to appear. because they would get an earlier kick-off.
“Once upon a time [we] begging to be on television,” Prime said. “We’re not going to turn our noses up because we’re on national television.”
Everything involving Deion comes with preset opinions – often passionate – on both sides. That’s how he’s always been. He does things differently.
Still, it’s worth noting that Colorado would have been happy with any coach who could turn a mess of a loser into what it has become in a season and a half. Revenues have increased. Merchandise sales have increased. Season ticket sales are on the rise. The registrations have been received.
It is the work of Sanders, who unashamedly entered the portal, believing that this way he could build a team despite the doubters.
Now Colorado is not only good, it seems to be getting better. Consider that not only does CU lead the Big 12 in sacks, but 16 of them have come in the last three weeks because the defensive line has gelled in a way that many thought was impossible with short-term rentals.
“We kind of know what we’re doing,” said Sanders, who previously coached a prep school in Texas and FCS Jackson State. “I know at first it didn’t seem like we were doing that. We’ve been doing this for a while. Building teams since I was at the youth level, going about making something out of nothing in the neighborhood in Dallas.
“We know how to work the landscape a little bit,” he continued. “And now it’s happening and we’re excited about it.”
Unlike other coaches, Sanders doesn’t prioritize recruiting high school players; CU has just eight commitments from the Class of 2025. He would rather enter the transfer portal at the end of the season and be selective with young players. He expects a big harvest in December because he is no longer selling a concept of success in Boulder.
“Winning does help with recruiting,” he said. “The general thought process of people joining something that is successful. People don’t want to join something that fails. They want to participate in something that is successful.”
As for bringing in dozens of high school students, he doesn’t see the point. He only wants guys who get the chance to get on the field right away.
“Why would you take thirty kids out of high school if thirty kids aren’t going to play?” Sanders said, “I know we played maybe the most freshmen in the league last year [conference].”
All of this got Sanders a lot of attention – some good, some bad. But so far no one can argue that it hasn’t worked in a place where nothing has worked for most of the last twenty years.
Can he hold on if Shadeur and Hunter go to the NFL? No one knows, but replacing that kind of talent is what all good programs have to deal with. Will he stay at CU forever? No one knows, but any coach who turns a 1-11 team into a winner so quickly also has the option to leave.
Right now, Prime is all about CU. This week he spent time shaking hands with some campus employees in appreciation for their work.
“This campus is incredible, a few of us walk around it every day and I was just talking about how beautiful it is,” he said. “These grounds are immaculate.”
A season and a half after this experiment, the grass is currently quite green in Boulder.
