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Colorado Gets Serious Message From Shedeur Sanders Amid Disappointing Start

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Brendan Howe | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 11:51 AM ET

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes aren’t currently in their preferred situation. Coach Prime’s team is 2-3 to open this season and fields the third-worst scoring offense in the Big 12.

Shedeur Sanders, who’d played quarterback for the program the past two seasons and vaulted himself to an opportunity with the Cleveland Browns, has been paying attention. While the masses focused on his wordless reply to Browns reporters on Wednesday, Sanders’ message to the struggling Buffaloes went largely unnoticed.

“I shouldn’t see no laughing, no smiling,” Shedeur Sanders said during a FaceTime call with his older brother, Deion Sanders Jr., on the latter’s YouTube channel, Well Off Media.

The younger Sanders helped restore the Buffaloes as a respectable college football program during his two seasons in Boulder. Colorado went 9-4 last season, reaching the Alamo Bowl, and Shedeur Sanders finished No. 8 in Heisman Trophy voting.

To help soften the blow of losing Shedeur Sanders, Coach Prime grabbed seasoned Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter in the transfer portal and also added highly-touted recruit Julian Lewis. The elder Sanders began the campaign with Salter as his starting passer before turning to Ryan Staub. He re-inserted Salter after Staub’s loss to Houston.

After falling to BYU, Coach Prime said he felt like the moment was too big for his players at times.

“I'm not going to make excuses for them,” Sanders said. “They've got step up. They've got to step up. I don’t know what else I can say about it.”

Shedeur Sanders obviously isn’t happy with how things are unfolding.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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