To say that the buildup to the 2024 season is going rough for Colorado and Deion Sanders would be an understatement. From Paul Finebaum’s “Colorado is irrelevant” comment to the backlash over Shedeur’s “Colorado is everybody’s Super Bowl” comment. Deion Sanders and his team are getting hit with hard jabs and bitter truths. And now on OutKick Hot Mic, the same is discussed again.

On July 20th, OutKick Hot Mic discusses the problems that the Buffs have gotten themselves into. “I think Paul Finebaum’s right that they’re not competing for a tournament spot, they’re not relevant in national college football as a team. They are relevant though as a talking point because of Deion Sanders. I think RG3 is right in that Dan Lanning and others are circling that game on their schedule to beat the sh*t out of Coach Prime because they don’t like people coming into their sport and talking the way that he does,” The hosts decide to point out. Since the day Deion Sanders decided to take up the helm at CU, the camp has turned into this hotbed of social media trash talks. With Deion’s son, Shedeur Sanders calling out players “mid” on X and then going around flexing his watch. All of this has attracted a ton of bad attention towards the whole team.

Back when Shedeur Sanders boldly claimed in an interview with Carter Bob, “I already know what the expectation comes with. I know where everybody’s Super Bowl.” It started off a whole debate which Andy Staples on On3 summed up the best. “He’s not wrong on that. Everybody who plays Colorado wants to kick the crap out of Colorado,” he mentioned. Deion Sanders is infamous for his ability to market anything and this is exactly what makes coaches like Dan Lanning want to put CU to the ground. Despite having a terrible 2023 season, the Buffs still managed to pull in major views. Why is that? Because of Coach Prime and the brand value he carries. Lanning was quite open regarding his perspective on CU. “The Cinderella story is over, men. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins,” he mentioned. The game is meant to be played on the field. No amount of social media attention or views will be enough. If you cannot score and win, you soon turn “irrelevant”.

Even on July 17th, Frank Michael Smith shared similar opinions. “Shedeur Sanders is setting his team up for disaster. This is borderline delusional, despite being a Cinderella Story, the buffs still finished dead last in Pac-12,” Smith mentioned. With all the negative press that Deion and his team are getting, claiming that CU is everybody’s Super Bowl will not bring Shedeur any good. Rather, this will end up pushing other teams to crush them harder. With all that in the mix, let’s hope Coach Prime has figured out something that’ll help them win.

Redemption or another failure?

Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and the Buffs altogether are in everyone’s crosshairs. However, Deion is putting in work to ensure that this doesn’t become a repeat telecast of the 2023 season. Deion has pulled in 6 new offensive linemen and ranked recruit Jordan Seaton. He has also brought in Justin Mayers and Tyler Johnson to protect Shedeur Sanders while he is playing from the pocket.

The team has also seen major changes on the defense front with Deion Sanders focusing on developing and training in that area. CU alum Matt McChesney also recognized the efforts that Coach Prime has put in. “All the offensive linemen were helping out at camp, and I felt small, like, I’m looking up with all these motherf**kers so they are big as sh*t,” Matt mentioned on The Coach JB and Big Smitty Show. He also left valuable advice for Deion Sanders as well. “Give these skilled players a little bit of time and support by running the football and then defensively being able to get off the field every now and then,” Matt mentioned. Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter cannot carry the whole team alone. They need support from the O-line and the defense, and looks like Deion Sanders finally understands this, judging from the changes he has made recently.

However, amidst all this, OutKick Hot Mic did agree on one thing, “I will also say and I pointed this out last year, it was fun during the first month of the season because every week felt like a buildup to the next WWE pay-per-view where you have in a UFC title fight in a pay-per-view where you have the buildup throughout the week, all the trash talk, all the promos.” No one can deny that even though Buffs are yet to leave a major mark on the field with a stellar record, Deion Sanders has managed to put a struggling program back on the map after he joined. Now, only the 2024 season will say who gets the last laugh.