Getty Image / Ron Jenkins/UFL
Deion Sanders‘ Colorado Buffaloes finished dead last in the PAC-12’s final season as a conference, mustering only 1 win in conference play and 4 wins (8 losses) overall. But despite the record, no coach was talked about more last season other than the legendary Nick Saban who retired.
Now with the 2024 College Football season about 2.5 months away, the hype train is picking up steam again in Boulder, Colorado despite Vegas putting the Buffs’ wins total o/u at just 5.5 wins next season. ESPN’s College Football insider, Paul Finebaum, spoke about the reality of the situation.
Appearing on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning show, Paul Finebaum had some choice quotes about Deion Sanders. They aren’t as brutal as they seem when taken together, but pieced apart, the quotes tell a story of how insiders perceive what is happening in Boulder with Deion Sanders.
Paul Finebaum on Deion Sanders as a ‘Celebrity Coach’ (quotes via BuffsBeat):
“First of all, he is a celebrity but he’s not a celebrity as a coach. To me, Deion, it’s all about what he did previously and I think that’s why I give him a lot of credit for calling himself Coach Prime. Because that puts the emphasis on being a coach. But listen, he is an industry-created coaching celebrity. What happened last year was generational, but it was mostly forced and created, and it was really in many ways illegitimate.”
Finebaum on Colorado’s 2023 season and hype fueling expectations:
“He really never beat anyone of consequence, but that didn’t stop us from talking about it. By the way, I’m guilty. I was on those shows as you were. But it felt surreal and I’ll never forget being asked, I think Steven A. Smith asked me in the second week of the season “hey, do you think they’re a playoff team?” I had a hard time answering with a straight face, because I think he had just been out there and he believed in it. But that was never real.”
Paul Finebaum on Deion Sanders: ‘I don’t consider him a great coach at all.’
“It’s just a matter of being honest, I don’t consider him a great coach at all. He’s a Hollywood created celebrity primarily because of what he did in other walks of life, namely playing football. But I mean he disappeared for a long time. We didn’t really know what he was up to and quite frankly, his performance as a coach has been less than spectacular”
The whole segment can be streamed here:
Of course, these are just the words of Paul Finebaum and his words don’t have any bearing on what Deion Sanders does on the field. And when he said that Deion ‘disappeared for a long time’ that is true in some ways but Deion was just spending time on camera in the NFL and later at Jackson State. It’s not as if he fell out of the limelight for an extended period of time.