Last Season’s Woes Still Haunt Deion Sanders as Colorado Buffaloes’ HC Snubbed for Top College Football Honor

Deion Sanders is a sporting legend whose name will forever be etched in American history as one of the greatest. Not only is he a Pro Football Hall of Famer, but also an MLB veteran who is the only player in history to play in the Super Bowl and the World Series. After his retirement, he turned to coaching, starting with Jackson State University in 2020.

Although he started well with the Tigers, his performance with the Buffaloes remains questionable. His last season’s woes have come to haunt him again, despite improving the season-on-season record of arguably the USA’s worst football program. As they say, not every great player can be a great coach, but is it the case with Deion Sanders?

Deion Sanders is not a top-10 football coach material

ESPN football reporters presented a consolidated ranking of college football coaches (top 10). Although the voting was extremely diverse, there were at least two points the reporters agreed upon; ranking Kirby Smart at the top of the list, and keeping Deion Sanders out of the list. However, it isn’t surprising given Colorado University’s 4-8 record last season.

ESPN followed a ranked voting or preferential voting which is an electoral system popularly used in FIFA rankings for determining the top 10 list. This method involves participants giving a rank to each candidate with the top-ranked candidate receiving the maximum value points. With Nick Saban’s recent retirement, Kirby Smart was the obvious choice as he received a perfect 100 based on his 94-16 overall career record. As obvious as Kirby Smart’s #1 ranking was, Coach Prime’s ouster from the list was equally expected, but he still managed to get 2 points from the voting.

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Coach Deion Sanders was appointed as the Head Coach of Colorado University in late 2022. With a dismal record of 1-11 in the 2022 season, there weren’t too many expectations from Coach Prime. Hence, his performance in the previous season for CU is considered an improvement by many.

Sanders is a breath of fresh air at Colorado University

Kyle Bonagura, one of the staff writers at ESPN, noted that he was surprised that Coach Prime received any vote at all as he was 1-8 in the 2022-23 season as CU finished last. However, in the next season, they performed a touch better as they managed four wins, a moral victory for the Colorado fans. As a result, he was voted the 2023 Sportsperson of the Year award by Sports Illustrated last year.

To be fair to Coach Prime, he didn’t have a decent team on his plate when he first joined. Upon arrival, he released 50 players, and later on 20 left on their own. When he was criticized for the move, he responded by saying that he had more holes to fill as he ordered a fresh batch of new players, 86 newcomers in a roster of 114 players. Outside of the players, he made changes in the coaching team as well. The result was evident as the Buffaloes started last season with three wins. This year, they are heading to the Big 12 conference for the first time in 14 years. Hence, fans can expect something magical from him this year too.

Read more: “I Am Straight”: Deion Sanders Reveals Three Big Reasons Why He Never Wants to Be an NFL Head Coach