By David Ubben, Bruce Feldman and Justin Williams
Deion Sanders stood in front of the Colorado football team in the visiting locker room just before the Buffs took the field for their season finale last Saturday in Utah. The head coach was dressed all in black except for a pair of custom gold Nike cleats.
The season began with the Book of Genesis, he told his team, but now Colorado has reached the Book of Revelation.
“There are a lot of people who started out great and ended up doing just one thing to just mess everything up. “There are a lot of people who started out bad and ended up doing just one thing to make everything good,” he added, nodding his head. “You can make anyone forget anything today. And it could be one hell of a plane ride (home).”
Instead, Colorado lost 23-17 to the Utes, completing a fall of biblical proportions. The Buffaloes finished the season with six straight losses and eight in their last nine games.
They were the highlight of college football in September. Coach Prime was a phenomenon featured everywhere from “60 Minutes” to national commercials for California Almonds. Daily Sports Talk wondered whether Shedeur Sanders — Deion’s son and the Buffs’ starting quarterback — was a Heisman Trophy contender and the top NFL candidate at his position and praised wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter for reviving the two-way star . Fox and ESPN’s pregame shows on Saturday fought for spots on the picturesque Boulder campus, much like the celebrities and influencers on the Colorado sidelines.
In a sport regularly dominated by blue bloods and familiar storylines, Colorado and Coach Prime were an injection of new energy. Love it or hate it, and there was both in abundance, people tuning in and Sanders playing to the crowd. He pounded the table at his postgame press conference after Colorado’s opening upset of TCU and asked, “Do you think so?”
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But now, after a 4-8 season that exposed the holes in Colorado’s roster and in Sanders’ ability to pull the right strings from the sideline, another question might be asked: Will Colorado be better in 2024 ?
“We didn’t achieve what we wanted, but we achieved what we needed. I think there’s tremendous hope in this city, in the student body, in this team, in this building, and you see the direction we’re going,” Sanders said before his team’s loss to Utah.
But across the sport, others don’t have such a rosy outlook for the Buffs. What ailed the team – poor play on offense and defense, a lack of depth throughout the squad – won’t be easily fixed, and it’s expected that there will be significant departures from Sanders’ coaching staff.
The Athletic spoke with six Pac-12 Conference coordinators and assistant coaches, all of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly about an opposing program. Her assessment of Sanders’ first year in Colorado included necessary caveats about the way he injected a jolt of energy and attention into the long-suppressed program. However, they were largely pessimistic that the second year would bring significant improvement. One coach said:
“It’s getting dark in Colorado.”
Sanders famously added 69 new scholarship players to the roster out of 85 total this season, releasing a number of players he inherited from a 1-11 Colorado team in 2022. Of these additions, 57 were brought in after spring training, an unprecedented turnover by an FBS program.
Sanders tapped talent for qualifying positions through the transfer portal, most notably Hunter and his sons Shedeur and Shilo, all of whom followed him from Jackson State. But the depth behind them was razor-thin and, more importantly, the talent deployed along the offensive and defensive lines was subpar.
“They brought out all these talented players, but they didn’t put any great players on the line,” a Pac-12 assistant said. “As far as the offensive line goes, they didn’t get a single coveted player out of the portal.” This coach also noted that four of the defensive linemen Colorado used weren’t good enough. “We didn’t pursue them,” he said.
Another Pac-12 assistant said: “They were terrible on the front lines. They couldn’t protect (Shedeur). He was massacred in our game. It’s really hard to do anything when you can’t block anyone.”
Colorado finished the season second to last of 133 FBS teams with 56 sacks allowed and last in rushing yards per attempt with 2.31.
The combination of a lack of running, poor pass defense, injuries and playing from behind created a brutal formula. Shedeur needed pain injections late in the season and had trouble gripping the ball after a hit against Washington State. According to a video posted by Deion Sanders Jr., he had to miss the Utah game with a “broken back.”
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was unable to finish the season due to injury. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
“They have a lot of speed outside and their receivers were as good as anyone we played. “It was really just that the offensive line was so overwhelmed and they didn’t have a tight end at all,” another Pac-12 assistant said. “Not having a tight end who can block was a bigger deal than a lot of people think. That really hurts an offense. That’s why they didn’t have any safeguards in place.”
Shedeur could declare for the NFL Draft but is expected to return to Colorado in 2024. The 2023 season showed that he gives the Buffaloes a chance. But poor line play can still ruin this chance. Earlier this season, as attacks on his son mounted and frustrations simmered, Sanders predicted healing: “The big picture is you get new linemen. This is the picture and I will paint it perfectly.”
Colorado will sign Jackson State transfer Tyler Brown, who sat out this season when the NCAA denied his request for immediate eligibility. Additionally, the team signed just a single offensive lineman in its 2024 recruiting class — three-star junior college transfer Issiah Walker Jr. — three weeks before the early signing deadline.
The next transfer portal window opens on December 4th. One coach, based on his experience, estimates that in a typical offseason, about 30 Power 5 quality offensive players will enter the transfer portal. “There are 65 Power 5 schools,” this coach said. “There’s no way you’re going to get a whole new line for Shedeur.”
Unless you actually pay for it. But Sanders said last week that “we’re not an ATM,” alluding to the growing influence of name, image and likeness (NIL) revenue on players’ transfer decisions. “We want players who want us,” he added. “Convincing someone and being held financially hostage is something we don’t agree with.”
Even if Colorado could go the zero route, the offensive line is a position group where experience and continuity are important. Michigan, which won the Joe Moore Award as the nation’s best offensive line the last two seasons, had a starting five last Saturday against Ohio State that featured all seniors or graduate students with a total of 203 starts.
“It’s a developmental position,” a Pac-12 assistant said. “It took about three or four years before we had a middle-of-the-road O-line. This takes time. You have to persevere and evolve.”
Recruiting was a big part of Sanders’ appeal when he was hired, and it paid off immediately: The Buffs’ 2023 class was rated 29th nationally by the 247Sports Composite, including the top-rated transfer class. But that momentum appears to have slowed, at least among high school recruits. Colorado’s 2024 class currently includes nine commitments and is ranked 65th nationally.
On Monday, the only quarterback committed to 2024 – Indianapolis’ Danny O’Neil – decommitted, citing the “possibility of coaching changes and general instability” in an interview with the Indianapolis Star. Earlier this month, two four-star commitments from the 2025 class — athlete Winston Watkins, who committed the day Sanders committed to Colorado, and quarterback Antwann Hill Jr. — withdrew from their commitments to the Buffs. Talan Chandler, a three-star 2024 offensive lineman from Nevada, Missouri who transferred to Colorado in February, transferred to Missouri State earlier this month.
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After Colorado announced it would move up to the Big 12 in 2024, there was a belief that it would help the school gain a 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 Texas recruits.
“They landed recruits at the top and they’re sinking a little. They didn’t sink, but they stumbled,” another Pac-12 assistant said. “You have to maintain high school level relationships.”
Most likely, Sanders’ roster construction will once again take place via the transfer portal. However, Sanders won’t have the luxury of cutting dozens of players like he did last April. Only first-year coaches are allowed to do this. Some Colorado players may enter the portal voluntarily, and Sanders can sign as many transfers as he wants 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 would like, given how many players transferred last season and the NCAA’s crackdown immediate authorization for multiple transfers takes place.
“If you see that we have a shortage or a deficit, we will fill that need,” Sanders said, adding that “a majority” of those additions would be transfers. “We want to win now, right?”
In late October, after a 28-16 loss to UCLA, Sanders promoted analyst (and former NFL head coach) Pat Shurmur to co-offensive coordinator and assigned him game-calling duties. That functionally demoted offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who left his head coaching job at Kent State to join Sanders at Colorado and turned heads as head coach in Colorado’s 3-0 start.
“That was embarrassing. … If I’m Sean Lewis, I’ll get out at the first opportunity,” an assistant said. That coach said Shedeur’s tendency to hold on to the ball didn’t always mesh with Lewis’ quick-release pace system, creating a rift. That coach also said that as his team faced Colorado after a three-pointer 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 to Colorado when they see what Sean Lewis did,” the assistant continued. “People were talking about him as a head coach candidate after Week 4 and were you going to demote him? That’s insightful.”
After the loss to Utah, Sanders said there would be “some” changes to his staff. Lewis has emerged as a leading candidate for the head coaching job at San Diego State, program sources confirmed to The Athletic on Tuesday. Tight ends coach Tim Brewster, who followed Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado 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 go with him. Shurmur could potentially stay as a 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 with Lewis, coaches who spoke to The Athletic predicted that Sanders would have a hard time recruiting top assistants this offseason, although coaches could also see an opportunity to bolster the offense with talent improve skill positions. Some also pointed to what they said was Colorado’s star system, which could make hiring qualified coaches and creating a winning culture more difficult.
“It’s like (Sanders) has lost touch with the roster and the people in the building outside of the big names,” an assistant said.
Kavosiey Smoke, a sixth-year running back who transferred from Kentucky, reflected that sentiment when he tweeted after the team’s blowout loss to Washington State that the Buffs could have remained undefeated if they hadn’t played “selfish ball.” would have.
Shedeur, Shilo and Hunter were certainly three of Colorado’s most talented and productive players in 2023, but they weren’t always the most disciplined or efficient. Some of the 56 sacks the Buffs allowed were caused by Shedeur holding the ball too long.
Hunter has a knack for making big plays on offense and defense, but he regularly struggled in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted 53 times this season, 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 softly,” a Pac-12 assistant said. “Shilo (in security) was physical, but he’s not a great cover guy.”
Shilo Sanders played safety on a defense that ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in yards allowed per play. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Leadership, acceptance and responsibility are rarely built in a single season. However, several opposing coaches The Athletic spoke with felt some of Colorado’s problems were self-inflicted.
“It’s not just imagination and circumstance,” another Pac-12 assistant said. “You don’t assume that you will automatically get better players. That doesn’t happen in college football. What you have to do is, at least with the good coaches I’ve been with, be responsive to the kids that are there. You give them a new life. You make them believe they are better than they are.”
Sanders spoke after the loss to Utah about the foundation that had been laid in terms of training and study habits and individual expectations, a standard he said is now “set in stone” for future players. But when it comes to team building and camaraderie, Sanders said last August that those were not areas he was focused on. “I don’t care about culture,” he said. “I don’t care if they like each other. I want to win.”
Sanders’ statements since then suggest he understands that culture and team building are important.
“Deion finally realizes that culture is so important and vital in college football,” an assistant said. “When he got there it was all hugs and kisses, but now maybe it’s time to hear about the horror stories.”
Much of Colorado’s early season influence came from toppling national runner-up TCU as a three-touchdown underdog. But the Horned Frogs became the first team since Texas in 2009-10 to play for a national title and finish under .500 the next year. Nebraska, which beat Colorado by 22 points in Week 2, was hoping to bounce back under first-year coach Matt Rhule but lost its last four games to finish 5-7. Colorado State, which the Buffs defeated to complete a 3-0 start, also finished 5-7.
The move to a 16-team Big 12 Conference will bring with it a new group of conference opponents next season. After non-conference games against FCS juggernaut North Dakota State and back-to-back trips back to Nebraska and Colorado State, the Buffs host Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Cincinnati and travel to Arizona, Texas Tech, Kansas and UCF. Of the nine league opponents scheduled for 2024, five won at least eight regular season games in 2023.
It may or may not be a more forgiving schedule than 2023, but Colorado also learned in the second half of the season what happens when opponents keep an eye on you. The Buffs won’t sneak up on anyone in 2024.
“We may not be where we want to be, but we’re certainly not where we used to be,” Sanders liked to say as the losses mounted. This is undeniably true. Colorado is a far cry from the 1-11 team it was before Sanders came to Boulder. But the Buffs are far from good, and Sanders’ coaching colleagues don’t expect that to change much next year.
“The people who have staying power in this business are hard-working workers,” a Pac-12 assistant said. “I think at heart (Sanders) is a good guy. Ultimately, that will lead him to success, but until he figures that out, there will be more hard times ahead.”
(Illustration by Eamonn Dalton of The Athletic; Photos: Matthew Stockman and Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)