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Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes had a fantastic weekend in Boulder as they closed spring practice. The team participated in the annual Black and Gold Game in front of a packed house at Folsom Field.
Sanders and Co. are looking to turn the program around following a 1-11 campaign in 2022. He’s already done his job in building excitement amongst fans.
Around 45,000 viewers were in attendance to see the Buffs play in that Saturday scrimmage, a vast difference from the turnout the previous year.
Fans got their first chance to see Coach Prime’s top ranked transfer class in action as they watched Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and more on the field.
While the team saw a couple of key departures from the roster on Sunday, there’s no denying the new head coach has the program pointed in the right direction.
Though he hasn’t even coached a game in Boulder, some media personalities are already talking of him moving on from Colorado.
Most notably, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned Deion Sanders as a candidate at the NFL level.
Florio notes Coach Prime’s ability to reinvigorate the Colorado program, as well as his success at Jackson State over the previous three seasons.
Here’s what he had to say about his outlook, hinting that he might spend just one season in Boulder when all is said and done.
“The stands were packed for the Buffaloes’ spring game, thanks to the arrival of the charismatic — and successful — first-year head coach,” Florio wrote. “It’s a moment that other universities won’t forget, when the time comes to line up new coaches for 2024.
“Deion moves to the top of the list, especially for any formerly big-time program that has fallen on hard times… Folks in Boulder need to enjoy it, because it’s going to be temporary. It’s just a matter of time before Deion goes to another school. It might just be a matter of time before the NFL comes calling.”
Fans online were quick to react to the comments as they posted replies on social media. Most remained skeptical of Florio’s insinuation.
Wow that’s a WHOLE LOTTA speculation 😂. Let’s see if he can win 6 games at D1 first
— Austin Keith (@lokieman1975) April 23, 2023
Surely, a team wouldn’t hire a coach based on the turnout at a spring game.
Crowd size = coaching ability?
🤔🤔🤔— Dr. AbbieSomething (@AbbieSomething) April 23, 2023
Sanders has also mentioned in the past that he has “no desire to coach rich men” in the NFL. He’d rather stay at the college level where he can impact the youth.
He’s not going to the NFL. If there’s one thing I know about Deion, he’s pretty honest about his intentions. He has said on multiple occasions he is not a fit for the NFL.
— CoCo Costanza (@markcovey) April 23, 2023
Some believe that his leaving is inevitable, but it likely would come after a few seasons at the helm in Boulder.
I have no doubt he will leave. But I think after three is more likely. They built in large financial penalties into his contract for departure in the first couple years. But I’m under no illusion he’s here for life.
— Greg Nikolayevsky (@gregnikolay) April 23, 2023
Deion Sanders is obviously doing something right to even have folks mentioning his name for new gigs. All eyes will be on Coach Prime and the Buffs this year as he looks to turn the hype into wins on the field.