The Colorado Buffaloes took the college football world by storm at the beginning of the 2023 season. The addition of Deion Sanders as the team’s head coach, along with his two boys made them must-watch football. However, despite some entertaining games early on, they quickly lost multiple games and ended on a sour note. Despite that, Colorado has sky-high expectations due to them continuously receiving praise.
Shedeur And Deion Sanders Letting It Fly
Most recently, the expectations were bumped up when quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of Deion, openly said, “I know we’re everybody’s Super Bowl”. Sanders continued by mentioning, “So I really just always stay level-headed and grounded because I would never want to be that guy who looks back and wasn’t able to take advantage of the moment that we have right now.” Stating that beating Colorado is similar to winning the Super Bowl is an odd statement to make considering the type of season that they had. They finished 2023 with a disappointing 4-8 overall record, so this team has tons of work left to do before they can sniff that same feeling themselves.
Of course, this hasn’t been the only statement that’s come out that has upped the expectations for the Buffaloes and overall, just made fans dislike them. Reporters were interviewing head coach Deion Sanders, and he wasn’t shying away from his thoughts on Colorado as a team. Sanders had this to say about the team’s success, “I’m judged on a different scale. My wins are totally different than your wins.” While Colorado is certainly viewed with more expectations than some other schools, some of that is their fault. Having your starting quarterback mention that every team is winning their Super Bowl when beating Colorado will put a target on your back, along with your head coach mentioning that his wins are different than everyone else’s.
Colorado’s Reputation Growing Poor
There was also that moment from the middle of the offseason between Deion and his children on the team. The Sanders family got into an open feud with another college football player on social media. The extra attention that the feud brought once again put Colorado and the Sanders family in a bad light. In April, former Buffaloes safety Xavier Smith said this when talking about Deion’s head coaching ability, “He was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves. The way he did it, it could’ve been done with a little more compassion”. Smith also said that Deion didn’t really want to meet with him individually to speak about the possibility of him entering the transfer portal, stating that their defensive coordinator held the meeting instead. Taking it one final step further, Smith said that the coaching staff “never even tried” to get to know him and that he “felt more like an extra on the background of a reality show”.
So, how did the Buffaloes handle these statements? Well, Shedeur Sanders tweeted this, “Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best”. Shedeur is one of the leaders in this team and just proved Smith’s point when it comes to getting to know him. Somebody responded to Shedeur on social media and said that Deion should stop acting the way he is. Deion chose to hop into the feud himself and say, “He will be a top 5 pick. Where yo son going? Lololol I got time today.” It’s difficult to look at this entire situation and feel like Colorado isn’t allowing all of their extra fame to get into their heads, as Smith’s accusations weren’t even given a thought. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident.
Former receiver Chase Sowell said, “It kinda felt like a reality TV show. We felt like it was us vs. them instead of all of us together. That’s the best way I can put it. The new guys were going against the players that had already been there. It wasn’t a good environment to be in. It wasn’t a team environment.” Finally, former offensive tackle Jake Wiley said, “In our O-line group chat, one of the offensive line coaches texted the group and said, ‘Good luck, fellas’, and then he just removed all of them. It said these five people were removed from the chat. We were like, huh? What happened?” Hearing all of these statements from former players and combining them with the other incidents and statements that the Sanders family has made has resulted in fans praying for Colorado’s downfall. For those that also might not believe those former players, there were 30 players on the 2023 Colorado roster that opted to transfer, with 18 of them being brought in for that season to replace the players that Deion cut when he took over.
Why does all of this matter? Well, the Buffaloes boast two very talented prospects who are looking at a future in the NFL in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. There will already be attention sent their way for them, and even more for Deion Sanders. It isn’t even a question that Colorado will have millions of eyes on them, as they’ve already sold out each game for the 2024 season. When you have this type of talent on your roster with so many eyes on you, there isn’t much room for error. NFL scouts and fans alike will closely watch those two players, in particular, to see if they are worth all of the attention, and the same goes for Deion as a head coach. If the Buffaloes aren’t able to burst out of the gates hot in the 2024 season, it won’t take long for the hate to start flooding in. If they continue to let their opinions fly on social media without a filter, and consistently attempt to get into personal feuds online, it isn’t going to help their case. For the entire Buffaloes roster, which does include the Sanders family, they need to keep their heads down, focus on the upcoming season, and try to win as many games as possible. If they improve even slightly, they can say it was at least a better year. If they don’t, then questions will come out regarding Deion’s job security, Shedeur’s ability to be a pro quarterback, and much more.
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