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What the Colorado Buffaloes have done just three games into the 2023 college football season is nothing short of remarkable.
And Buffs fans have Deion Sanders (and his players) to thanks.
Colorado was one of, if not the worst program in Power 5 football a year ago, finishing 1-11.
But Sanders and his Louis luggage have turned things around quickly. Even with an absolute glut of incoming transfers, Colorado was expected to win just 3-4 games according to most sportsbooks.
Well, through three games the Buffaloes are 3-0 and shocking ranked in the top 25 of both the USA Today Coaches and AP Polls.
Naturally, that’s led to the question “what’s next” for Sanders in his coaching career. Colorado is far from a powerhouse program and plenty of people figure to come calling for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
According to multiple NFL executives, his future may well lie at the professional level.
“I’d definitely want to bring him in to hear what he has to say,” one exec told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “He’s a smart guy and a good coach who has had a lot of early success. You’d want to pick his brain to see if it could translate. He knows how to motivate his players. He’s crushed the transfer portal, and maybe that would carry over into team building through free agency.”
Another executive said that Sanders puts his players in positions to succeed, which makes him valuable at any level.
“He clearly has a plan to develop young men,” he said. “It’s worked to this point. He has no issue putting people in position to do what they do best, doesn’t seem to micromanage and knows his strengths.”
But the interest doesn’t appear to go both ways.
Sanders recently told Rich Eisen that he “would never do that” when asked about leaving for the NFL.
Why? Well, the answer is simple.
“I love college. I love that the young men are still impressionable,” Sanders elaborated. “They’re not so financially wealthy that they can’t hear you. At the next level, some of these guys make so much money they can’t hear. They can’t hear or they can’t see the things that they need to see and hear.”
The NFL may want Deion Sanders. But Deion Sanders doesn’t seem to want the NFL.