Deion Sanders "Coach Prime" Now At Colorado

[Pam Cummings 9637]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

wait.

you don't think they showed real progress?

they went 4-8 after going 1-11 and being one of the absolute worst p5 teams in the country.

i get shitting on CU and Deion and have myself in this very thread, but come on. no real progress? they lost games by 7, 3, 7, 3 and 6. they also got blown out in some games but last year they lost exactly one game by 7 points or less lol

If they were progressing so well, why did the HC shitcan the OC for no reason mid-season? Kind of a sign of ineptitude imo.

[Jkwellborn 6685]

You're not wrong.  I think the incremental progress might be easier to appreciate if it had been achieved with relatively-quiet dignity instead of with the overly hyped nonsense most, if not all, of us could smell from a mile below Boulder.   In the end, last place is last place; only this year, it's wearing sunglasses.  

Is the future so bright, they have to wear shades? Please tell me he said that at some point for wearing those stupid things.

[Eastwood 4394]

5 hours ago, NoName said:

wait.

you don't think they showed real progress?

they went 4-8 after going 1-11 and being one of the absolute worst p5 teams in the country.

i get shitting on CU and Deion and have myself in this very thread, but come on. no real progress? they lost games by 7, 3, 7, 3 and 6. they also got blown out in some games but last year they lost exactly one game by 7 points or less lol

The whole “1-11 to 4-8” is pure fool’s gold. He cleared out almost all of the roster and transferred in a bunch of guys. If it was 1-11 to 4-8 with almost the same exact roster, now that’s progress. But this is a brand new 4-8 team. There is no upward momentum to show. Our sample size to evaluate this team is one season, not two. And that one season was bad. Why would 4 and 5 stars serious about winning want to go there?

I want Sanders to succeed, but all I saw was regression this season. As it turns out, a lot of recruits saw it, too. 

[Chooky 13307]

Nobody has ever gone from 1 - 11 to 4 - 8. Ever. Maybe MC Hammer. Probably not, though. 

[Atticus 3969]

1 hour ago, Eastwood said:

The whole “1-11 to 4-8” is pure fool’s gold. He cleared out almost all of the roster and transferred in a bunch of guys. If it was 1-11 to 4-8 with almost the same exact roster, now that’s progress. But this is a brand new 4-8 team. There is no upward momentum to show. Our sample size to evaluate this team is one season, not two. And that one season was bad. Why would 4 and 5 stars serious about winning want to go there?

I want Sanders to succeed, but all I saw was regression this season. As it turns out, a lot of recruits saw it, too. 

Why in the world does it matter how they got to 4-8?

He built the team at the same university, then produced a ton of money and 3 additional wins as a result. They were also more competitive.

Year over year if he changes the entire roster again and gets to 10 wins, who fucking cares if he doesn't keep the same players from the year before?

Edited November 28, 2023 by Atticus

[NoName 16348]

1 hour ago, Eastwood said:

The whole “1-11 to 4-8” is pure fool’s gold. He cleared out almost all of the roster and transferred in a bunch of guys. If it was 1-11 to 4-8 with almost the same exact roster, now that’s progress. But this is a brand new 4-8 team. There is no upward momentum to show. Our sample size to evaluate this team is one season, not two. And that one season was bad. Why would 4 and 5 stars serious about winning want to go there?

I want Sanders to succeed, but all I saw was regression this season. As it turns out, a lot of recruits saw it, too. 

this is CFB, not an RPG. you don't get more credit because you used guys from the prior year and they got better. the results are what matters and all we have are those results.

last year? 1 win. this year? 4 wins.

if you don't think that's upward momentum in the eyes of the AD, students, donors, coaches, recruits, media and CU fans...idk what to tell you.

Edited November 28, 2023 by NoName

[oSuJeff97 3435]

24 minutes ago, NoName said:

this is CFB, not an RPG. you don't get more credit because you used guys from the prior year and they got better. the results are what matters and all we have are those results.

last year? 1 win. this year? 4 wins.

if you don't think that's upward momentum in the eyes of the AD, students, donors, coaches, recruits, media and CU fans...idk what to tell you.

Sure but let's not act like Colorado was firing out 1 win seasons every year for a half decade or something. He basically brought them back to where they were (more or less) before they cratered to 1-11 in 2022:

• 2021: 4-8
• 2020: 4-2
• 2019: 5-7
• 2018: 5-7
• 2017: 5-7

So yes it's an improvement over the abject disaster of 2022 but they averaged 4.8 wins in the prior 4 full seasons they played before 2022. (And even managed a winning record in the Covid year)  And if you go back one more year to 2016 they were 10-3. (Yes that was kind of fluky but 10 wins is 10 wins)

Their 2024 schedule has quite a few landmines:

OOC:

• North Dakota State (high potential for yikes)
• @ Nebraska (Ruhel in year 2 will probably be much better)
• @ Colorado State (will be tough)

Big 12 home games:

• Baylor (who knows - maybe winnable)
• Oklahoma State (TBD based on Ollie Gordon returning and who's at QB)
• Kansas State (likely tough)
• Cincy (probably winnable)

Big 12 road games:

• Arizona (likely very tough)
• Kansas (assuming Daniels is there will be tough)
• Texas Tech (probably tough)
• UCF (probably tough)

They could very well be 0-3 after the non-conference schedule. There's a lot of roster unknowns right now but getting both OSU and KSU at home will be nice for them. I could see best case for them beating Cincy and Baylor and then one of OSU/KSU at home and then winning one of the 4 road games.

Looking at the schedule on its face it seems like it may be pretty tough for them to get past 4-5 wins.

But again, we'll have to see where everyone stands after the big game of musical chairs is done.

Edited November 28, 2023 by oSuJeff97

[Dennis Taylor 18799]

49 minutes ago, Atticus said:

Why in the world does it matter how they got to 4-8?

He built the team at the same university, then produced a ton of money and 3 additional wins as a result. They were also more competitive.

Year over year if he changes the entire roster again and gets to 10 wins, who fucking cares if he doesn't keep the same players from the year before?

Year over year 😆 

How many seasons you think the coach prime era will be? 

[Atticus 3969]

I'll give it another season and a half before he ghosts them and turns up on NFL network again

[bEastTexas 497]

Publicly throwing your current players under the bus and he came out and said they weren’t going to be a atm for players which leads me to believe they don’t have the NIL buy in doesn’t exactly help with recruiting efforts. 

[Irish Wrist Watch 1359]

45 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Year over year 😆 

How many seasons you think the coach prime era will be? 

I'm guessing Deion is in way over his head. How many hours a week is he willing to put in? Difficult to imagine him working 60-70 hrs week in/week out.  I could be wrong, but I think that's what it takes.

[Vermin 3043]

https://theathletic.com/5094370/2023/11/28/deion-sanders-colorado-recruiting-decommitment/

[Dennis Taylor 18799]

8 minutes ago, Vermin said:

https://theathletic.com/5094370/2023/11/28/deion-sanders-colorado-recruiting-decommitment/

Paywalled

[closetojumping 62453]

1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

They are a lot better than last year, and I give him credit for that … but he’s not recruiting lights out.  And this was the year he should have had the most recruiting advantage, at least in the short term.  Maximum hype, positive energy, new money coming in, and minimum actual expectations.  It’s the honeymoon period where even assholes like Tom Herman can put together a nice recruiting class.

Is he recruiting better than Colorado did before him?  Yes, but with caveats.  He still has more 4 star level guys than they’ve been getting in a typical class recently.  But the momentum is going the wrong direction.  And if he’s only going to sign 10 high school players and turn over 50 roster spots with the portal every year, they aren’t going to be talented or establish any kind of culture and continuity (firing your OC who was your best assistant midseason doesn’t help with that, either).  

They were marginally better this year because his son is actually a good QB, not because the portal overhaul actually produced a good roster top to bottom.  The idea was supposed to be that this portal strategy was a quick fix stopgap while long term he would build the roster up through recruiting on par with the big boys.   If the recruiting piece is not going to happen, then what’s the advantage of having Deion Sanders as your coach?

Good post. I just want to build on the "he's not recruiting lights out" point by saying that it is shocking to me how poorly his recruiting is going. When people were talking up a class full of 4 and 5 stars, I knew that was bullshit, but I expected to see them wind up somewhere between top 25-35. As of now, he needs to complete a few hail marys to get close to that.

[Post Oak 20202]

I wonder how much time he carved out for recruiting as opposed to say self promotion.  Recruiting is a grind and I wonder about how often he gets out to see a kid on a Friday night before a Saturday game or during their off week. 

Is he talking to HS coaches. When he visits is it with an entourage?  I have no idea.  Maybe he is, id be interested to learn.

[smwhorn 482]

25 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Good post. I just want to build on the "he's not recruiting lights out" point by saying that it is shocking to me how poorly his recruiting is going. When people were talking up a class full of 4 and 5 stars, I knew that was bullshit, but I expected to see them wind up somewhere between top 25-35. As of now, he needs to complete a few hail marys to get close to that.

Agreed.  And I think his "I'm the new sheriff and most of you assholes are the fuck out of here" speech hurts him way more than it helps him on the recruiting front.

[Atticus 3969]

49 minutes ago, Irish Wrist Watch said:

I'm guessing Deion is in way over his head. How many hours a week is he willing to put in? Difficult to imagine him working 60-70 hrs week in/week out.  I could be wrong, but I think that's what it takes.

60-70 hrs a week? Try 120+ especially when you’re in the building phase. 

[Eastwood 4394]

3 hours ago, Atticus said:

Why in the world does it matter how they got to 4-8?

He built the team at the same university, then produced a ton of money and 3 additional wins as a result. They were also more competitive.

Year over year if he changes the entire roster again and gets to 10 wins, who fucking cares if he doesn't keep the same players from the year before?

 

2 hours ago, NoName said:

this is CFB, not an RPG. you don't get more credit because you used guys from the prior year and they got better. the results are what matters and all we have are those results.

last year? 1 win. this year? 4 wins.

if you don't think that's upward momentum in the eyes of the AD, students, donors, coaches, recruits, media and CU fans...idk what to tell you.

It absolutely matters that it isn't the same roster and you absolutely get credit in the eyes of recruits if a lot of the guys from the prior roster were a part of the improvement. Recruits want to see player development. Why? Because the NFL wants to see player development. They want to see metrics. "RB1 had X amount of yards on Y amount of carries and Z number of touchdowns before Deion. After Deion, there was a 60% improvement in those numbers." That signals to recruits that they might be able to go from 4 star athlete to 1st or 2nd round pick in 3 or more years at Colorado. It tells recruits that Deion can take a bunch of spares from a 1-11 team and start getting them national attention and in the conversation for awards and draft picks in just one or two years and if he can do that for 2 and 3 star spares, just imagine what he can do for 4 and 5 stars. That matters a ton for future recruiting. So, great, CU got one whole year of excitement, money, and attention. But is there longevity there? Can Deion build a program? Going 4-8 with a completely different team doesn't give anyone any idea if he can develop talent. If anything, we saw him fade down the stretch and lose almost all of the early season momentum, as well as a decline in player performance (not to mention having his stars get banged up while losing). And...

2 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Is he recruiting better than Colorado did before him?  Yes, but with caveats.  He still has more 4 star level guys than they’ve been getting in a typical class recently.  But the momentum is going the wrong direction.  And if he’s only going to sign 10 high school players and turn over 50 roster spots with the portal every year, they aren’t going to be talented or establish any kind of culture and continuity (firing your OC who was your best assistant midseason doesn’t help with that, either). 

This. "It's Division I football! This ain't IMG Academy." Look at none other than Sark at Texas for an example of how establishing a 5 Star Culture over time helps a program. College football isn't plug and play. It's about establishing and keeping long term momentum. He built a roster of mercenary athletes who wanted immediate results and those athletes and recruiting commits are already jumping ship.

[Chad 1728]

It's easy to point and laugh. Coach prime shit on the players he inherited telling them to get into the portal, shit on his current players when things went south and completely collapsed after all the hype with a 3-1 start. Now the fallout is beginning. Commits are looking elsewhere, players will begin entering the portal and it'll be interesting to see how Colorado fares next year. I'd suspect they'll finish with a worse record in 2024. 4-8 is better than 1-11, but with all the hype and Deion's smug attitude it was easy to gloat over their collapse and shit season.

[NoName 16348]

11 hours ago, Chad said:

Coach prime shit on the players he inherited telling them to get into the portal, shit on his current players when things went south and completely collapsed after all the hype with a 3-1 start.

to be fair, the players he inherited were pretty fucking bad - and that's backed up by how few of them found P5 homes.

what's going to hurt him is firing the best coach he hired (Lewis) into the sun, Lewis found a HC job and will be leaving and without a doubt be successful there.

whoever the new replacement is (no way they run it back with Pat Shurmur right?) will not be as good of a coach or run as good of a scheme.

[Francisco 2.0 32379]

A week or so back, Deion was quoted:

Quote

"We're not an ATM. That's not going to happen here. If you come to Colorado to play football for me and the Colorado Buffaloes, it's because you really want to play football and receive a wonderful education and all the business stuff will be handled on the back end if that's the case. But we are not an ATM

 

Life comes at you fast:

 

https://themessenger.com/sports/deion-sanders-says-colorado-needs-more-nil-money

Quote

Thee era of name, image and likeness is here to stay, and it will remain one of the biggest factors in the recruiting and retention of athletes throughout college sports. Following his first season at the FBS level, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is ready to embrace it.

Now, Sanders is ready to embrace NIL, and ask for help in boosting Colorado's NIL initiatives.

"We're getting there," Sanders said Monday when asked if Colorado has the resources he needs to succeed. "We definitely need 'giving.' You know what I mean. It's unfortunate to say this, but some kids cost."

 

Quote

The Buffaloes finished 4-8 with a 1-8 record in Pac-12 play this season, and were clearly outmanned in the trenches. Sanders said in several press conferences that the offensive line, specifically, was not up to par, and the team will need some next season.

"The big picture, you go get new lineman," Sanders said after Colorado's 28-16 loss to UCLA on Oct. 28. "That's the picture, and I'ma paint it perfectly."

 

Also, The Athletic interviewed several Pac-12 coaches for their assessment on Colorado's season, and the future.  It isn't going to be pretty:

https://theathletic.com/5096119/2023/11/29/deion-sanders-colorado-football-2024/

 

Quote

Deion Sanders stood in front of the Colorado football team in the visiting locker room moments before the Buffs took the field for their season finale last Saturday at Utah. The head coach was decked out in all black, save for a pair of custom gold Nike shoes.

The season began with the Book of Genesis, he told his team, but now Colorado had reached the Book of Revelation.

 

Quote

“There’s a lot of folks that started out great and done one thing at the end to just mess it all up. There’s a lot of folks that started out bad and did one thing at the end to make it all good,” he added, nodding his head. “You can make everybody forget every dern thing today. And it could be a heck of a plane ride (home).”

Instead, Colorado lost to the Utes 23-17, completing a fall of biblical proportions. The Buffaloes closed the season with six losses in a row and eight in their last nine games.

 

Quote

The Athletic spoke with six coordinators and assistant coaches within the Pac-12 Conference, all of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly about an opposing program. Their assessment of Year 1 of Sanders at Colorado included the necessary caveats for how he brought a jolt of energy and attention to the long downtrodden program. However, they were largely pessimistic that Year 2 was going to bring significant improvement. Said one coach:

“It’s gonna get dark for Colorado.”

 

Spoiler

Sanders famously added 69 new scholarship athletes to the roster this season out of a total of 85, offloading a number of players he inherited from a 1-11 Colorado team in 2022. Of those newcomers, 57 were brought in after spring practice, an unprecedented turnover of an FBS program.

Sanders loaded up on skill-position talent via the transfer portal, most notably with Hunter and his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, all of whom followed him from Jackson State. But the depth behind them was paper-thin and, more critically, the talent brought in along the offensive and defensive lines was subpar.

“They were loading up on all these skill players, but they weren’t getting great players on the line,” said a Pac-12 assistant. “Offensive line-wise, they didn’t take a single coveted guy out of the portal.” That coach also noted that four of the defensive linemen Colorado brought in were not good enough. “We didn’t pursue them,” he said.

Said another Pac-12 assistant: “They were horrible on the front. They couldn’t protect (Shedeur). He was getting massacred in our game. It’s really hard to do anything when you can’t block anybody.”

Colorado finished the season second-to-last among 133 FBS teams in sacks allowed with 56 and last in rushing yards per attempt at 2.31.

The combination of no running game, poor pass blocking, injuries and playing from behind made for a brutal formula. Shedeur needed pain injections late in the season and struggled to grip a ball after a hit against Washington State. He sat out the Utah game with a “fracture in his back,” according to a video posted by Deion Sanders Jr.

“They have a lot of speed outside, and their receivers were just as good as anyone we played. It was really just that the offensive line was so overmatched and they didn’t have a tight end at all,” said another Pac-12 assistant. “Not having a tight end who can block was a bigger deal than a lot of people think. That really hurts an offense. They didn’t have any answers in protection because of that.”

Shedeur could declare for the NFL Draft but is expected to return to Colorado for 2024. The 2023 season showed that he gives the Buffaloes a chance. But poor line play can dash that chance just the same. Earlier this season, as the hits on his son piled up and frustrations simmered, Sanders forecasted the cure: “The big picture is you get new linemen. That’s the picture, and I’m going to paint it perfectly.”

Colorado is set to add Jackson State transfer Tyler Brown, who sat out this season when the NCAA refused his request for immediate eligibility. Beyond that, the team has just one offensive lineman committed in its 2024 recruiting class — three-star junior college transfer Issiah Walker Jr. — with three weeks before the early signing period.

The next transfer portal window opens Dec. 4. One coach, referencing his experience, projects roughly 30 Power 5-quality offensive line starters to enter the transfer portal in a typical offseason. “There are 65 Power 5 schools,” that coach said. “There’s no way in hell you’re gonna get a whole new line for Shedeur.”

Unless you really pay for it. But Sanders said last week that “we’re not an ATM,” alluding to the growing impact of name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings on players’ transfer decisions. “We want players that want us,” he added. “Trying to convince somebody and doing that, being held hostage financially, we ain’t with that.”

Even if Colorado could go the NIL route, offensive line is a position group where experience and continuity matter. Michigan, which won the Joe Moore Award the past two seasons as the nation’s best offensive line, ran out a starting five against Ohio State last Saturday that featured all seniors or graduate students with 203 combined starts.

“It’s a developmental position,” said one Pac-12 assistant. “It took us like three, four years to have a middle-of-the-pack O-line. It takes time to do that. They have to stick it out and develop.”

Recruiting sizzle was a big part of the Sanders appeal when he was hired, and there was an immediate payoff: The Buffs’ 2023 class was rated 29th nationally by the 247Sports Composite, including the top-rated transfer class. But that momentum seems to have slowed, at least with high school recruits. Colorado’s 2024 class currently features nine commitments and ranks 65th nationally.

On Monday, the lone 2024 quarterback commit — Danny O’Neil from Indianapolis — decommitted, citing the “possibility of coaching changes and instability across the board” in an interview with the Indianapolis Star. Earlier this month, two four-star commits from the 2025 class — athlete Winston Watkins, who committed the day Sanders was hired at Colorado, and quarterback Antwann Hill Jr. — backed out of their commitments to the Buffs. Talan Chandler, a three-star 2024 offensive line prospect from Nevada, Mo., who committed to Colorado in February, flipped to in-state Missouri earlier this month.

There was a belief after Colorado announced it would move to the Big 12 in 2024 that it would help the school gain a recruiting foothold in talent-rich Texas, where Sanders played (for the Dallas Cowboys) and where he remains popular. But the class currently has no commitments from recruits from Texas.

“They landed recruits on the high, and they’re sinking a little bit. They’re not sunk, but they’ve stumbled,” said another Pac-12 assistant. “You have to maintain relationships at the high school level.”

Most likely, Sanders’ roster-building will come again via the transfer portal. Except Sanders won’t have the luxury of cutting dozens of players as he did last April. Only first-year coaches are allowed to do so. Some Colorado players might enter the portal voluntarily, and Sanders can sign as many transfers as he’d like as long as he doesn’t exceed the 85-scholarship limit. But some of the assistant coaches who spoke to The Athletic speculated that Sanders wouldn’t have as many spots available as he’d like considering how many players transferred in last season and with the NCAA cracking down on immediate eligibility for multi-time transfers.

“Everything you see that we have a lack thereof or deficit, we’re going to fill that need,” Sanders said, adding that “a plethora” of those additions would be transfers. “We want to win now, right?”

In late October, following a 28-16 loss to UCLA, Sanders promoted analyst (and former NFL head coach) Pat Shurmur to co-offensive coordinator, handing him play-calling duties. That functionally demoted offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who left a head coaching job at Kent State to join Sanders at Colorado and garnered head-coaching buzz during Colorado’s 3-0 start.

“That was embarrassing. … If I’m Sean Lewis, I’m outta there on the first opportunity,” said one assistant. That coach said that Shedeur’s propensity to hold on to the ball didn’t always fit with Lewis’s quick-release tempo system, causing a rift. That coach also said that when his team faced Colorado, after a three-and-out by the Buffs, he saw Lewis try to get Shedeur’s attention but Shedeur “pushed (Lewis) off and went to the other side of the field.”

“A lot of OCs will be hesitant to come into Colorado now seeing what Sean Lewis did,” the assistant continued. “People were talking about him as a head coach candidate after Week 4, and for you to demote him? That’s telling.”

Following the loss to Utah, Sanders said there would be “a few” changes to his staff. Lewis has emerged as a top candidate for the head coaching job at San Diego State, program sources confirmed Tuesday to The Athletic. Tight ends coach Tim Brewster, who followed Sanders to Colorado from Jackson State and was demoted to an off-field role to make room for Shurmur’s in-season promotion, resigned Sunday. Offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle came to Colorado with Lewis, and if Lewis takes a job elsewhere, O’Boyle could leave with him. Shurmur could potentially stay on as play caller, but he joined Colorado as an analyst just before preseason camp and hasn’t been a college coach since 1998.

Given what happened to Lewis, the coaches who spoke to The Athletic predicted Sanders would have a hard time recruiting top assistants this offseason, though coaches could also see an opportunity to improve an offense with talent at the skill positions. Several also referenced what they perceived as a star system at Colorado that could make bringing in qualified coaches and creating a winning culture more challenging.

“It’s like (Sanders is) out of touch with the roster and the people in the building outside of the big names,” said one assistant.

Kavosiey Smoke, a sixth-year running back who transferred in from Kentucky, fed into that sentiment when he tweeted after the team’s blowout loss to Washington State that the Buffs could have gone undefeated if not for playing “selfish ball.”

Shedeur, Shilo and Hunter were easily three of Colorado’s most talented and productive players in 2023, but they weren’t always the most disciplined or efficient. A number of the 56 sacks the Buffs allowed were caused by Shedeur holding on to the ball too long.

Hunter has a knack for making big plays on offense and defense, but he regularly struggled in coverage. He was targeted 53 times on the season according to Pro Football Focus, giving up 30 catches for 414 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions, which ranked 173rd nationally in yards per target.

“Their secondary was very soft. Most of their corners played soft,” said one Pac-12 assistant. “Shilo (at safety) was physical but is not a great cover guy.”

Leadership, buy-in and accountability are rarely built in a single season. However, multiple opposing coaches The Athletic spoke to felt some of Colorado’s issues were self-inflicted.

“It’s not just flash and circumstance,” said another Pac-12 assistant. “You don’t go in thinking you’re just going to automatically get better players. That doesn’t happen in college football. What you have to do, at least with the good coaches I’ve been around, is you pour into the kids who are there. You give them a new lease on life. You make them believe they’re better than they are.”

Sanders talked after the loss to Utah about the foundation that had been established in terms of practice and study habits and individual expectations, a standard he said is now “in stone” for future players. Yet as far as team building and camaraderie, Sanders explained this past August that those aren’t areas he focuses on. “I don’t care about culture,” he said. “I don’t even care if they like each other. I want to win.”

Sanders’ statements since suggest he understands that culture and team building matter.

“Deion is finally realizing that culture in college football is so important and so vital,” said one assistant. “It was all hugs and kisses when he got there, but now it might be time to hear about the horror stories.”

Much of Colorado’s early-season clout stemmed from toppling national runner-up TCU as a three-touchdown underdog. But the Horned Frogs became the first team to play for a national title and finish below .500 the next year since Texas in 2009-10. Nebraska, which Colorado beat by 22 points in Week 2, was hoping to rebound under first-year coach Matt Rhule but lost its final four games to finish 5-7. Colorado State, which the Buffs defeated to complete that 3-0 start, also finished 5-7.

Next season’s move to a 16-team Big 12 Conference will introduce a fresh crop of conference opponents. After nonconference games against FCS juggernaut North Dakota State and back-to-back return trips to Nebraska and Colorado State, the Buffs will host Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Cincinnati and travel to Arizona, Texas Tech, Kansas and UCF. Among the nine league opponents on the schedule in 2024, five won at least eight regular-season games in 2023.

It may or may not be a more forgiving schedule than in 2023, but Colorado also learned in the second half of the season what happens when opponents have tape on you. The Buffs won’t sneak up on anybody in 2024.

“We might not be where we want to be, but we sure ain’t where we used to be,” Sanders grew fond of saying as the losses mounted. That is undeniably true. Colorado is a long way from the 1-11 team it was before Sanders came to Boulder. But the Buffs are also a long way from being good, and Sanders’ coaching colleagues don’t see that changing much next year.

“The guys who have staying power in this business are blue-collar, hard-working dudes,” said a Pac-12 assistant. “I think in his heart, (Sanders is) a good guy. Ultimately that will make him successful, but there are more hard times coming for him until he figures that out.”

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Francisco 2.0

[AbeFroman 2154]

If you're going to talk that talk, you got to caulk that caulk.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

16 hours ago, Eastwood said:

This. "It's Division I football! This ain't IMG Academy." Look at none other than Sark at Texas for an example of how establishing a 5 Star Culture over time helps a program. College football isn't plug and play. It's about establishing and keeping long term momentum. He built a roster of mercenary athletes who wanted immediate results and those athletes and recruiting commits are already jumping ship.

100%.

This is what I was saying from the very beginning about Deion. There's VERY FEW programs out there that can win just by accumulating the most talent, and even then it's not just "plug and play."  He was able to do that at Jackson State because of the low competition for talent at that level, but life in the P5 can come at you fast, and every game is a battle unless you're one of the 2-3 super elite talent factories.

You need to build up quality depth and continuity, especially on the OL/DL and I can't see any way he's going to do that with his current strategy.  That HAS to be done through mostly HS recruiting/development and then augmented by the portal, not the other way around.

[Ghost of LL 15531]

This year in particular, there's been kind of an innate conflict of interest for Deion.  On the one hand, he wants to showcase Shadeur and set him up to be a high draft pick.  But you can't do that purely with mobility and a chuck-and-duck passing game; the NFL requires a showing of drop-back capabilities.  Unfortunately, Colorado doesn't have the OL to allow Shadeur to drop back.  Hence the conflict of interest: Deion can either run a chuck-and-duck offense that will maximize wins, or he can run Shadeur as a drop-back passer to highlight Shadeur's NFL capabilities at the expense of the team.

I think it's pretty clear that this conflict of interest was at the root of Deion's decision to sideline Sean Lewis.

Maybe this problem goes away when Shadeur graduates.  But if I'm a Colorado booster, I'm pretty displeased with the appearance that Deion is out primarily for himself/family at the expense of the Colorado program.

[Jkwellborn 6685]

If Deion wasn’t a dick, maybe he doesn’t run off the couple of OL that are starting elsewhere. Then maybe Shadeur doesn’t get fucked up every day.

[Chewbacca 7759]

Honestly, Sean Lewis was not a good pick for OC.  He likes to run an RPO offense and Shedeur's strength is a pro style offense.  Was not a good fit from the beginning, IMO.  

[Chewbacca 7759]

16 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

If Deion wasn’t a dick, maybe he doesn’t run off the couple of OL that are starting elsewhere. Then maybe Shadeur doesn’t get fucked up every day.

Yeah, he should have been nicer to all the players who went 1-11 and lost by an average of 29 ppg.  Totally.

[Jkwellborn 6685]

Yeah, he should have been nicer to all the players who went 1-11 and lost by an average of 29 ppg.  Totally.

That’s not what I said. But if the posts upthread are true, 2 of the OL that he ran off were starting for top 15 teams. Which means, maybe, just maybe, they could have played for the shit that was trotted out in Boulder.

[Cajun 11704]

23 hours ago, Post Oak said:

I wonder how much time he carved out for recruiting as opposed to say self promotion.  Recruiting is a grind and I wonder about how often he gets out to see a kid on a Friday night before a Saturday game or during their off week. 

Is he talking to HS coaches. When he visits is it with an entourage?  I have no idea.  Maybe he is, id be interested to learn.

I'm pretty sure that in his mind self promotion IS recruiting.

[Chewbacca 7759]

16 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

That’s not what I said. But if the posts upthread are true, 2 of the OL that he ran off were starting for top 15 teams. Which means, maybe, just maybe, they could have played for the shit that was trotted out in Boulder.

Everyone who stayed had the opportunity to compete for playing time.  Maybe they weren't up to the task of competing, I don't know.  Or maybe they just didn't like what he said to them.  Some of the guys who stayed were able to be starters, though.

[The Hot Dog Buffet 1291]

If I got a new boss and had to sit through a presentation about how we all suck and the replacements are coming before any of us had even met him, I'd probably go get a job elsewhere. But I guess if my employer was as awful as a 1-11 football team, I'd probably find work elsewhere before the new boss even showed up.

[Eskimohorn 5626]

It's easy to point and laugh. Coach prime shit on the players he inherited telling them to get into the portal, shit on his current players when things went south and completely collapsed after all the hype with a 3-1 start. Now the fallout is beginning. Commits are looking elsewhere, players will begin entering the portal and it'll be interesting to see how Colorado fares next year. I'd suspect they'll finish with a worse record in 2024. 4-8 is better than 1-11, but with all the hype and Deion's smug attitude it was easy to gloat over their collapse and shit season.

Firing (demoting but he wont be back) the coach in year one is a huge red flag I doubt he’ll recover from. Not unlike Herman and Strong who whiffed at key hires. You picked them, they couldn’t overcome holes in the roster, got fired, then got the coach fired.

[Hank_Hill 18759]

8 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

 Some of the guys who stayed were able to be starters, though.

[Pam Cummings 9637]

14 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, he should have been nicer to all the players who went 1-11 and lost by an average of 29 ppg.  Totally.

Nah. Blindly running off all the players because "1-11" was never a smart idea. He's being paid a lot of money. It's straight up lazy to not do evals on every single one of those players to see what was worth salvaging. He would have seen that those OL were worth keeping.

 

OL especially is a position that you have to turn over every stone. You never know who might develop into a good player. See: Jones, Christian.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Pam Cummings

[Burt 4080]

🤣

 

[Lou Loomis 745]

🤔

[Guest]

Shohei, Nikola, and Erling are just chopped liver.

 

What a fucking joke, SI.   Stick to swimsuits.

[Pam Cummings 9637]

42 minutes ago, Burt said:

🤣

 

A publication in a dying industry is squeezing every drop out of a controversial story, no way.

[StrippersAndNobelPrizes 834]

Gundy Rig 12 Coach of the Year

Deion Sportsman of the Year

Apparently the Algonquin Round Table is now in charge of all of these “accolades”. 🤔🤣

 

[MAUFRAIS 6607]

Harpo lives

[The Ace of Aces 5173]

AI isn't smart, so of course he's Sportsman of the year (SI is a joke)

[Chooky 13307]

I'm old enough to remember a time when Sports Illustrated seemed like it took itself seriously. 

[Brothahorn 10087]

 

Sports Salesperson of The Year

[HornOnTheBayou 8898]

SI is having quite a week. I thought nothing would be more embarrassing than using AI to write articles and to create fake reporter bios, but making Deion Sportsman of the Year takes the cake.

[Post Oak 20202]

I'm old enough to remember when SI was the absolute peak of sports writing.

[Fondren & Main 6693]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

Shohei, Nikola, and Erling are just chopped liver.

 

What a fucking joke, SI.   Stick to swimsuits.

They can't even get that right any more.

[Sgt Hulk 13711]

I predicted 4-8 so I’m good wit it. He’s obviously turned this program around 300% 🤣

[Valmy77 13222]

18 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I'm old enough to remember when SI was the absolute peak of sports writing.

When was this?

It seemed like in the 1990s, The Sporting News was what you were subscribed to if you actually wanted to follow sports. SI was what you read to know where the hype train happened to be that month but if that was all you read you would lack the context to even understand the hype trains.

[Pimphand 5721]

3 hours ago, slorch said:

Shohei, Nikola, and Erling are just chopped liver.

 

What a fucking joke, SI.   Stick to swimsuits.

No they fucked that up too now.

[Brothahorn 10087]

No they fucked that up too now.

They proper fucked that up.