“We Wasn’t Able To Put It All Together”: Travis Hunter On What Went Wrong During Deion Sanders’ Debut Season

The 2023 college football season kicked off with a blazing spotlight on the Colorado Buffaloes. The buzz only grew from there, roping in star quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver Travis Hunter, who emerged as a fierce duo. However, the explosive start fizzled out into a disappointing journey, to end in a 4-8 record. While the man at heart of this journey- Deion Sanders has spoken extensively about the season, this time Travis Hunter had his piece to say.

Speaking on Amazon Prime’s Coach Prime Series, which revolves around none other than Coach Prime, the JSU transfer had a few regrets. He mentioned that while Sanders managed to inject fresh talent, pulling over 50 transfer portal players, the Buffs could not make the pieces fit. Their struggles arose and never ended as they went through a heartbreaking six-loss streak, in spite of the talented roster, he lamented,

“I mean we tried our best to get a lot of guys to come in as one and that’s kind of hard to do knowing that we got a lot of talent but we wasn’t able to put it all together and have years under our belt with the coaches,” 

The o-line strength of the Colorado Buffaloes was visibly shaken, as Shedeur Sanders took close to 52 sacks in the season. He also used pain-numbing injections to get through the games. However, it is not just regrets that Travis holds for the season, but also a suggestion for the seasons ahead. “We just gotta do better next year with bonding,” added Hunter.

The Prime Effect is real.

This past fall, @DeionSanders and @GoJSUTigersFB signed the No. 1 recruit in the country, Travis Hunter.

The finale of the six-part Coach Prime series is out, presented by @ChevyTrucks: https://t.co/q9G3IlYZZc pic.twitter.com/2i5lpMMeWq

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 11, 2022

Colorado’s start to its first season under HC Deion Sanders can only be described as explosive. But that spark quickly fizzled out to be a messy, broken flame that only set fire to the team in the end. Sanders’ historic roster overhaul couldn’t do much to mitigate the damage.

The next season is expectedly the last before Travis Hunter with Shilo and Shedeur Sanders declare for the NFL Draft. Therefore, the stakes are high for the players since their future ahead stands affected. Then again, it also stands true for Deion Sanders who described 2024 as a ‘year of expectations’ for the Buffs.

Deion Sanders is on a Mission to Overhaul His Team (Again)

Deion Sanders is walking his talks, extensively executing his recruitment plans to overhaul his team. He saw the offensive struggles of the Colorado Buffaloes firsthand. This has him bringing more talent on board along with taking steps to alter his coaching staff. As far as bonding is concerned, the induction of the former defensive tackle Warren Sapp was an appreciable step.

This is remarkable, as Sanders cherishes Sapp’s addition to his team’s coaching staff. But no share of forward stride comes without its sets of challenges. Sanders not only digested a bunch of revocations commitment revocations like Antwann Hill Jr. but was also called a ‘cocky coach’ in an anonymous report, though not in a bad way.

A report by The Athletic published anonymous replies from recruits. One of the players shared his experience by appreciating Sanders’ unique style, in the most unimaginable way.

“Probably Deion (Sanders). It’s all love though. He goes about it in his own unique way. It’s not arrogance — just cockiness,” the Athletic reports said.

The Buffs’ advances are only in theory as of now, the struggles are official with staff members and recruits exiting. But, Deion Sanders and the players have managed to keep the hope alive for the 2024 season.

About the author

Anushree Gupta

Anushree Gupta is an NFL sports journalist for The SportsRush. She has been deeply immersed in American football for over a year. Her passion for football led her to transition into sports journalism. Previously a freelancer, she contributed her writing skills to various sports, including golf, basketball, and baseball. In 2023, she joined the Sportsrush NFL Division, channeling her enthusiasm into covering NFL news. She has authored over 900 articles and developed a deep connection with the sport. Anushree is a Philly fan, though she makes one exception for Tom Brady!

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