It seemed Deion Sanders had completed his vision of rebuilding the Colorado Buffaloes’ football program in 2024, powered by Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. However, less than two months into this season, they seem to be facing more uncertainty than ever before.
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Health concerns continue to haunt coach Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes have a losing (3-4) record, and there’s an alarming lack of both depth and talent in offense.
There’s an urgent need for new ideas, as well as a boost in morale in Colorado. And Coach Prime believes that he’s found one. And it involves identifying, highlighting, and celebrating players whom the program can bank on.
“[Players] get separated by like, you know, All Conference, All American, the finances, the way that they drive and they dress, there’s a lot of separatism. And I want the coaches to start figuring out who we can count on Saturdays. By their practice habits, by the way they go about it… So I need t-shirts that say ‘I am.’ Like ‘I am that dude,’ you can count on me, and I want coaches to nominate those guys to me,” said Deion.
Prime went on to add, “all we need is 7 on the defense, 7 on the offense that we trust” in order to make a team of elite athletes. This exercise might help Colorado identify the guys who have the potential to improve and the belief to take on responsibility.
This sure sounds like one of Coach Prime’s unique ways to create a competitive environment in the locker room. That spirit has been missing in the Colorado ranks this season.
While the Buffs won’t be able to reclaim their spot in the national rankings from last season, they did manage to upset the No. 22-ranked Iowa State Cyclones in their most recent game. That alone is certainly a cause for celebration.
But by turning accountability into a reward, it’s clear that Sanders is still hoping to shepherd his players toward a winning season.
Unfortunately, Kyle Whittingham’s Utes won’t be looking to do them any favors at home on Saturday. While they do classify as an unranked team, Utah’s only losses this season, just two, have come to teams that were ranked inside the top 17.
Considering that they blew out the No. 21-ranked Sun Devils just before giving BYU a three-point heart attack in Week 7, Colorado will likely be viewed as a step-down in competition for Utah. Thankfully, Deion Sanders‘ teams have routinely proven to be at their best when playing the role of the underdog.
It may not be likely, but there will be a way for Colorado to get back to .500 this weekend, even if it takes a bit more grit than they are willing to give. Then again, Coach Prime likely knows this as well. That’s possibly why he’s trying to identify the who’s who of his roster with custom t-shirts.
