Deion Sanders’ Hype Crumbles as Colorado Collapses 

Following a 4-8 rookie season, Colorado went 9-4 last season, including 7-2 in the Big 12 Conference, which earned the Buffs a trip to San Antonio and the Alamo Bowl. But that success has proven to be a mirage. 

This year, the Buffs (3-6, 1-5 Big 12) are in free fall. Last week, Colorado was slaughtered at home by the mediocre Arizona Wildcats (5-3, 2-3) 52-17. The prior week, it was annihilated 53-7 on the road by the No. 13 Utah Utes (7-2, 4-2). 

Yes, Coach Prime’s team has helplessly allowed its last two opponents to slap “Fiddy Burgers” on the board. Even worse, the games had the look of a team who has quit on its coach.

Colorado has among the worst metrics in college football. Offensively, they rank 111th overall, 110th in scoring and 115th in fewest turnovers committed. Equally horrific is that Colorado ranks 112th in total defense, 108th in points allowed and 122nd in takeaways.

To anyone who knows football, this is no surprise. But to Sanders’ fanboy steno pool, it has been quite a comeuppance. They are no longer smearing his critics as racists. In fact, many of them are now shamelessly piling on, albeit too late and after being outed as ignoramuses. 

Never Going to Work

The approach to recruiting for Sanders is unsustainable. Even before his recent health scare with cancer and the aftermath of its treatments, he was never interested in leaving his luxurious digs to hit the road to recruit. 

Instead, he went with the entitled celebrity theory that kids would come from all over to pay homage to him in Boulder, Colo. Except that hasn’t happened. Quality college players expect to be begged by coaches to play while being offered the bag. 

Another problem that few discuss is that Colorado’s NIL program ranks in the mid-30’s nationally. Kids, like Sanders, want to be shown the money. Colorado, a notoriously cheap football program, is in the same class as Duke, NC State, Kansas State and Virginia Tech in NIL capability. Top prospects who were already annoyed that Coach Prime would not seduce them have no interest in playing for nothing. 

Additionally, Sanders’ coaching staff is more of a buddy system than one of competence. A great example is Warren Sapp, who likes to kick end zone pylons during pregame warmups only to have his “boss” pick up after his mess. What a great example of “professionalism” by Colorado’s “Defensive Pass Rush Coordinator.”

Unsustainable Business Model 

The one undeniable success that Coach Prime can take full credit for is record crowds at Folsom Field. Colorado football under Sanders allows the affluent, uber progressive, predominantly white citizens of Boulder and the surrounding areas to feel good about themselves for supporting it as a cultural statement, while soothing their collective white guilt. 

But losing will eventually make that worm turn. It’s not sustainable. The best evidence comes from pop culture, where iconic celebrities and profane hip-hop stars are no longer as prominent as they once were. More new “fans” and hangers-on see the future and that it doesn’t work. 

The celebrity cultists were always an odd mix, anyway. It was strange to see Sanders preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ while loving it up with entertainers who crawled out of the sewers after producing some of the most vile, obscene, profane filth that the entertainment industry has ever seen. 

Worse still, Coach Prime replaced the school’s fight song and band with hip-hop as in-game entertainment, assuming it would be another draw for recruits and fans. Instead, it has irritated the always loyal CU base.

Football is the ultimate game of substance. No sport demands more commitment to team and tasks that are not easy or fun.

Sanders, Colorado football and the media have been verified to be a mirage. The rest of us can heartily let out a primal scream of, “We told you so.”