Deion Sanders offered the Colorado job- Official Colorado season thread
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Former Colorado player rips Deion Sanders: "Who are you to tell me that I’m not good enough"
One of the castaways in Boulder challenges Coach Prime's Hall of fame credentails
Josh Tolle1 hour agoDeion Sanders roared into Boulder from Jackson nearly overnight, taking over a football program that had seen better days. It was a drawn out process with a plan towards the future that started a year ago.
There were only nine players who heard Coach Prime's Louis Luggage speech and stayed on the roster for his first year. Not everyone was happy about the turnover, but it was a much-needed "house cleaning" to drive the Colorado Buffaloes into a better place. One of those players on the outside looking in when the dust settled was Xavier Smith.
The Atlanta native and former Buffs defensive back moved on to Austin Peay and found success with the FCS team in Clarksville, Tenn. this year. He also went on the record about his experience with Sanders during the short time the two interacted. Smith played in CU's Spring Game and was out right after.
“All I wanted was a coach to be honest with me and give me an opportunity," Smith told the AP in a recent interview.
"To me it’s like, ‘Who are you to tell me that I’m not good enough to play here?’ ” Smith said. “So, it’s just proving people wrong and proving to myself and my family that I am who I say I am and that I’m going to do what I say I’m going to do."
Smith's story isn't unique to the narrative that Sanders was restocking the Buffs roster. This was bound to happen and came together quickly within a matter of months. But also, what was the expectation for the holdover players? Coach Prime wasn't going to let grass grow under his feet and wait for things to pan out. It wasn't part of the plans he presented to Colorado athletic director Rick George.
Sanders exceeded expectations at Colorado with a 4-8 record in his first year. While many believe it was a letdown given the way the season started, it was actually a step in the right direction with the Buffaloes building a foundation that hasn't been in place for over twenty years. It was a major reason why Sanders was named SI's 2023 Sportsperson of the Year this week. Pat Forde wrote about Coach Prime's accomplishments in Boulder.
Sanders and the Buffs will be tapping into the transfer portal for a second time starting in the upcoming days. There will be an emphasis on rebuilding the offensive line and addressing other needs including the core of the defense.
Notice how he said I didn't get to meet Deion Sanders, versus I didn't get to meet Coach Sanders. Marsh is a kid, a player, I have never called my coaches by their first name like that.
Something is wrong with the way "we", lower the respect level for Black people in positions of power
I don't remember seeing disgruntled 17 year olds voicing complaints about a white coach from the SEC, Big 10 like this. My Dad would have kicked my ass for doing this. Different times
Man, cut the bullshit. Deion is playing an intro song w/ the word "nigga' in it every 3 seconds and invited Brittany Renner to motivate his players. This shit is different from the standard all the way around.Notice how he said I didn't get to meet Deion Sanders, versus I didn't get to meet Coach Sanders. Marsh is a kid, a player, I have never called my coaches by their first name like that.
Something is wrong with the way "we", lower the respect level for Black people in positions of power
I don't remember seeing disgruntled 17 year olds voicing complaints about a white coach from the SEC, Big 10 like this. My Dad would have kicked my ass for doing this. Different times
Can Deion Sanders, CU Buffs rebuild an offensive line via transfer portal alone?
December 3, 2023 at 6:00 a.m.Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) looks to the referee after getting sacked by the Oregon Ducks in the third quarter at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 23, 2023. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
BOULDER — If the Buffs’ plan is to replace their whole offensive line with transfers, James Moore knows what his dad would probably say to Deion Sanders about that one.
“That’s a big mistake,” Moore, son of the late offensive line coach and blocking guru Joe Moore, told The Denver Post last week when asked about CU. “My opinion: You’ve got to have somebody (who’s a veteran) in that room. … If you can build it, that’s not how I would build it.”
Moore’s father, Joe, was the longtime offensive line coach at Pitt and Notre Dame, a football icon in western Pennsylvania and Mr. Miyagi to blocking senseis from Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz to Jimbo Covert and Russ Grimm.
Joe Moore was a tough cookie, old-school, a contemporary of Mickey Andrews, the former Florida State defensive coordinator and one of Sanders’ spiritual mentors. A demanding son of a gun. A “we” guy and not a “me” guy.
So much so, in fact, that the national trophy presented to the best offensive line unit in college football — The Joe Moore Award — is named in his honor. So is the offensive line camp James Moore runs outside Pittsburgh every year.
“I watched (CU) at the beginning of the year, and obviously (the Buffs’) offensive line is not very good right now,” the younger Moore said of the Buffs, who gave up the most sacks per game (4.67) of any Power 5 program this season and saw star quarterback Shedeur Sanders taken down 52 times in 11 appearances.
“But do they have a guy or two who could be ‘the guy’ in that (offensive line) room and have guys that come in the transfer portal and go through spring ball (that can help)? I don’t know.”
And there’s the rub. The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) transfer portals open for business Monday, and CU is expected to burst through those front doors like it’s a Black Friday midnight sale.
Coach Prime’s stated methodology — still unique, and controversial, after a 3-0 start sank to 4-8 over his inaugural season in Boulder — is to devote 80% of his available roster slots to undergraduate transfers or grad transfers in any given recruiting cycle.
CU’s starting left tackle this fall, Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, reportedly entered the portal this past Friday. Sanders said after allowing seven sacks at UCLA that he wanted new offensive linemen for 2024, a season that will see sons Shedeur and Shilo play their final year of collegiate eligibility together. It’s also expected to be the last hurrah at CU for sophomore two-way star Travis Hunter, who will become eligible for the NFL Draft after the ’24 campaign.
Can a Big 12-quality offensive line be built, or rather re-built, strictly through transfers? And can it jell in just eight or nine months together? Can a position group that traditionally requires time and preparation, like a roasted turkey, be microwaved like a pizza and still hold up?
“Yes. The answer is yes,” CBS Sports analyst and ex-CU Buffs football coach Rick Neuheisel told The Post. “Yeah, you can. And I think there are going to be a lot of people intrigued with the idea of Deion being there after all that publicity and at a time of the season (September) when it’s absolutely gorgeous (in Boulder).
“When (transfers) are thinking about Deion, they’re thinking about that time of year. … He’s going to have entrée to many a living room.”
Selling is the part of the job where Sanders excels — especially when it involves selling himself. But patience? That’s less of a strong suit, especially when so many of CU’s chips are expected to be pushed to the middle of the table for the 2024 season.
Shopping-by-portal has proven to be a sound method for plucking singular, elite, plug-and-play “free agents” at positions such as quarterback, tailback, wide receiver, cornerback or pass-rusher. But the offensive and defensive lines, bedrocks of a program’s foundation, are less about the individual and more about the collective — chemistry and cohesion that can take months, if not years, to master.
Also, the truly great ones, to paraphrase Coach Prime, are traditionally hard to find on the transfer market. From Black Friday through Dec. 1, 43 wideouts entered the portal, according to the 247Sports.com database. Only 20 offensive tackles and 30 interior offensive linemen put their names in the hat over that same eight-day window.
“It’s such a developmental position,” offered Cherry Creek offensive lineman Hayden Treter, a senior who committed to play college ball at USC last June. “Rarely do you see a guy come out of high school or (from a smaller) school, transfer up and enroll and he’s just a star.
“I think, you know, there’s only really (a few) exceptions, such as Kadyn Proctor in Alabama, or the right tackle in Miami (Francis Mauigoa). But it’s rare, because it’s unit-based. You’ve got to know the guys for months and months and months and months. And even those (standout) dudes are struggling a little bit.”
Of the offensive line units that were picked among the semifinalists for the 2023 Moore Award, three hailed from the Pac-12 — Oregon, Washington and Oregon State. And collectively, the Ducks, Huskies and Beavers started only one first-year transfer up front.
Experience matters. Of the four FBS teams that allowed the most sacks per game this season, all but one, Wake Forest, opened the season among the bottom 25 programs in the nation in the category of most career offensive line starts.
“It (stinks) for them,” Treter said of the Buffs’ offensive line struggles. “It’s hard to watch sometimes. … You know they’re going to get there eventually. But with offensive line, you need time. You can’t take a guy and teach him three years worth of technique in half an offseason. It’s almost impossible.”
As a player, Sanders excelled at what conventional wisdom said was “impossible.” But as a coach, when it comes to building a Power 5-worthy offense line in a hurry, he might be battling against forces too strong for even his charm, willpower and work ethic to overcome.
Moore says Sanders would be wise to seek out a friend of his family, Mike Munchak, who has loved ones in Colorado and served as the Broncos’ offensive line coach from 2019 to ’21.
“To me, it’s more about attitude and everything (taught) in that (offensive line) room,” Moore said. “You look at Iowa’s offensive line, right? If they weren’t very good at the beginning of the season, they got pretty good. They’re doing better. That’s typical (Ferentz). That’s why he’s 11-1 (over Iowa’s last 12 games) in November. That’s getting better.”
She hit the portal, too ?!?! Damn Deion...
Damn Deion is breaking up with Babyface's wife.
Deion probably wasn’t trying to get married again
This Has been a problem with The Buffs recruiting efforts
You can’t blame the kid for feeling some type of way when Colorado waisted his time. The kid is a big time recruit and they treated him like an afterthoughtNotice how he said I didn't get to meet Deion Sanders, versus I didn't get to meet Coach Sanders. Marsh is a kid, a player, I have never called my coaches by their first name like that.
Something is wrong with the way "we", lower the respect level for Black people in positions of power
I don't remember seeing disgruntled 17 year olds voicing complaints about a white coach from the SEC, Big 10 like this. My Dad would have kicked my ass for doing this. Different times
This is a massive fail for the Buffs.
White boys always fail up. No way in hell he should be a head coach right now.
You ain't keeping up. Marion is s star and should be a HC soon. That said, he's not a fit for CU.
Fam, he's not concerned with HS recruiting. His recruiting is about to start tomorrow. You keep talking down, but has anything shown you Deion is trying to build for the long haul? He's trying to win immediately. Getting a bunch of HS guys aint the way to do that.
There are very few elite offensive linemen in the portal. We looking at maybe 3. Which is about right. The only reason an elite offensive lineman would transfer is for a NIL deal.
So you will probably see Colorado pull no names from small schools. If the Buffs have decent player evaluations this would fix the offensive line.
I wouldn’t expect a big name splash. These no names were overlooked mostly because of size but now have filled out and developed into power 5 linemen
So you will probably see Colorado pull no names from small schools. If the Buffs have decent player evaluations this would fix the offensive line.
I wouldn’t expect a big name splash. These no names were overlooked mostly because of size but now have filled out and developed into power 5 linemen
They need to kill these hype videos
It’s been quite so far. The top DL targets will cost. We will see how that goes
I guess he got tired of the sorry blocking. He would be good with a team like Oregon.
Hell he was good here
there’s like 3 people left from the 1-11 team…
Trevor woods, Charlie and another lineman
Probably more but can’t remember them…
Man folks know how dude operate but just because it’s not how they think he should do it, that’s a problem.
This ninja prefect fuck no, hell I didn’t really like the way he pushed Tracy off the stage after JSU won’t the swac title game.
They was up there to get the trophy and he realized she was up they and was like
“Mudda fucker this ain’t about you, get the fuck down. You ain’t about to be show out like this”
Yeah Oregon would be a good fit for him. Hate to see him leave but can’t fault him. Hard to get NFL looks if the team is not running the ball
good luck with that
Coach Prime has made it clear that improving Colorado’s offensive line will be one of the top priorities. Simply put, if the Buffs are to reach their ceiling in 2024, their O-line tow better be impressive.
Below is a chronological list of who’s coming and going via the transfer portal this offseason:
Entered portal: Nov. 27
2023 statistics: 6 games played, scored on a two-point conversion attempt
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Entered portal: Nov. 28
2023 statistics: 36 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
Entered portal: Dec. 1
2023 statistics: 12 games played (11 starts at left tackle)
Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images
Entered portal: Dec. 2
2023 statistics: 11 games played (10 starts at center)
Chet Strange-USA TODAY Sports
Entered portal: Dec. 3
2023 rushing statistics: 78 carries for 319 yards and 1 touchdown
Below is a chronological list of who’s coming and going via the transfer portal this offseason:
TE Caleb Fauria (OUT)
Entered portal: Nov. 27
2023 statistics: 6 games played, scored on a two-point conversion attempt
LB Marvin Ham II (OUT)
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Entered portal: Nov. 28
2023 statistics: 36 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup
OT Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan (OUT)
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
Entered portal: Dec. 1
2023 statistics: 12 games played (11 starts at left tackle)
C Van Wells (OUT)
Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images
Entered portal: Dec. 2
2023 statistics: 11 games played (10 starts at center)
RB Anthony Hankerson (OUT)
Chet Strange-USA TODAY Sports
Entered portal: Dec. 3
2023 rushing statistics: 78 carries for 319 yards and 1 touchdown
Yep luck will be needed
Colorado had a top
25 class last year and the #1 portal team
So it’s possible but the portal ranking likely won’t be as high because, he can’t sign as many…. Plus getting Travis, Weaver, Kennedy and Shedeur were high ranked players that boost the portal ranking.
Getting a top 10 portal class would be a great look and top 25 overall would be nice.
Before folks start bump their gums. , Remember last year at this time, they just started putting a coaching squad together…
So how many times will College Game Day be in Colorado in 2024?
Probably twice like last year…
My bad once, that was big noon kickoff that was there for back to back weeks with gameday
