The University of Colorado football team is 2-0 to start the 2023 season and already has more wins than it did all last season (1-11).
The players on both sides of the ball in Boulder are almost entirely different in 2023 than in 2022. And so is the head coach of the program after Deion Sanders was hired last December.
Sanders served as head coach at Jacksonville State for three years before accepting the job at Colorado.
The Buffaloes’ first home game in the Sanders Era started off shaky last weekend, with Colorado punting on each of its first four possessions before breaking out for 36 points the rest of the way.
Colorado defeated Nebraska, 36-14, thanks in large part to Jacksonville State transfer quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders is Deion Sanders’ son.
The younger Sanders has thrown six touchdowns passes and piled up more than 900 passing yards in wins over TCU and Nebraska. He is one of the Heisman Trophy favorites early this season.
Another Heisman candidate on Coach Prime’s roster is DB/WR Travis Hunter, who plays almost every offensive and defensive snap for the Buffs. Hunter also transferred to Colorado from Jacksonville State.
Some coaches try to act like the transfer portal doesn’t exist, but Sanders has fully embraced it.
Nine players made the move from Jacksonville State to Boulder with Deion. Fifty-three total transfers have entered the Colorado program since Sanders became head coach.
This is the most turnover for a college football program in a single offseason in history and the first time a team has ever been constructed in such a way.
It led many pundits – and coaches – to question Sanders’ strategy.
Many believed the model would fail. Pundits said Colorado would lack “culture” and the team would have no continuity.
“I’m not welcoming to the word ‘culture,’” Sanders said in the offseason. “What the heck does that mean?”
Deion has challenged the norm in the sport since his playing days. In the 1990s, when he played for the Dallas Cowboys, Sanders was known for his unwavering confidence, one that many perceived as arrogance.
He remains full of this same type of bravado in his first season coaching at Colorado.
“We’re here,” the former NFL star said. “We’re not coming anymore – we’re here.”
