Randy Smith
He's been called arrogant, egotistical and self-centered. He's also one of the greatest athletes of our time. Deion Sanders has also set college football on its ear as his Colorado Buffaloes are 3-0 on the year so far and nationally ranked. Colorado was only 1-11 in 2022 before Coach Prime came to Boulder. A complete overhaul through the Transfer Portal emptied the roster and brought in almost an entirely different team. An upset of national runner up TCU started things off, then it was a big win at home over Nebraska capped off by a double overtime win over rival Colorado State last week.
No matter what you think of Deion Sanders you have to admit he's been good for college football. Tickets to a Buffaloes' game are now at a premium. Crowds are sold out home or away and Coach Prime has made more television appearances than President Joe Biden. All of this has been the most talked about subject in the sports world for the last month.
Coach Prime made his mark as a coach when he took over at Jackson State in 2020 and coached there for three seasons. His best player at Jax State is also his best player at Colorado. His son Shedeur Sanders has hit the ground running and has put his name in the middle of the Heisman Trophy race. So far in 2023, Shedeur has 1251 yards passing with 10 TD passes and just one interception. The 6'2" 215 pound junior will be eligible for the NFL draft after this season however he has not decided yet if he will leave Colorado early This week the 19h ranked Buffs play at 10th ranked Oregon which will be Colorado's biggest test thus far.
I have never been a huge Deion fan but I never disliked him. I always thought that Bo Jackson was the best athlete I ever saw. He was also a lot more humble than Deion ever was and Bo accomplished more in baseball than Deion ever did though Deion is the only man to ever play in a World Series ( 1992 with the Braves and a Super Bowl ( 1996 with the Cowboys.)
It appears the Transfer Portal came in just in time for Coach Prime. Other schools have heavily used it but nobody has completely brought in a practically different team in one year until Deion did it. Then again....nobody had ever played in both a World Series and a Super Bowl until Deion did it.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com