Keeler: Deion Sanders taking CU Buffs to College Football Playoff feels like when, not an if. Why leave?
The NFL is a league of thin ice. In Boulder, Coach Prime walks on water.
admin
BOULDER — Why would Deion Sanders give a fork about Arizona State?
The shortest path to the College Football Playoff runs through Folsom Street.
Sure, Coach Prime can make more money elsewhere. Pick your elsewhere. Then pick your poison.
The Cowboys? Too much Jerry Jones. The Raiders? Too much Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton. The Giants? Too much old, crusty NFL blood.
If he stays, CU’s on the cusp of a dynasty.
Power. Playoffs. Prerogative. The new-look Big 12 is a football island of misfit toys that’s begging for an overlord. The wheels are coming off the Mike Gundy train in Oklahoma State. Kyle Whittingham’s Utes this fall looked like a MySpace to CU’s TikTok. Sanders beat the pair by a combined score of 50-12.
“He’s certainly validated his way to do things,” Geoff Schwartz, the Fox Sports analyst and former Oregon/NFL lineman, told me the other day. “Because he’s proven that he could do it with heavy portaling.”
Buffs fans were probably seething about the Kansas game again after watching the Sun Devils boat race Iowa State on Saturday in front of a less-than-stellar crowd at Jerry World. The Big 12 title game also underscored three points:
1. Given what transpired at Arrowhead Stadium, ASU tailback Cam Skattebo and quarterback Sam Leavitt would’ve been a handful for the Buffs, too.
2. The Buffs should’ve been there.
3. They will get there.
If Sparky is the bar, then this is a league the Buffs and Sanders can win, every year.
For as long as they want. For as long as he wants.
Power. Playoffs. Prerogative. If the Buffs can pony up — Sanders is slated to make $5.9 million in 2025 and $6.1 million in 2026 — for a pay bump, why would you ever want to leave?
“It depends on the next crop of players,” Schwartz said. “You’re only as sustainable as the next crop of players. This game is so much about talent acquisition. I think coaching obviously matters, but it’s about the talent acquisition.”
The Buffs woke up Saturday with the No. 4 recruiting class in the Big 12, and No. 37 nationally — but that’s just with the high school kids.
CU’s 2024 prep signees ranked 95th nationally last winter, per 247Sports.com; its transfer group was eighth. The Buffs jumped almost 60 slots among high school hauls in a year, and that’s following a ’24 core that included left tackle Jordan Seaton, wideout Drelon Miller (13 catches, two receiving scores in November) and running back Micah Welch (four rushing TDs, 4.2 yards per carry).
The portal opens Monday, and CU’s pitch almost writes itself. You’ll be on national TV every week. You’ll be coached by NFL veterans with NFL nous. You’re coming into a league you can win. If you’re a serious free agent, how is Boulder not on your shortlist?
“I don’t know if there’s a model to follow, because part of his model was bringing the No. 1 QB in the 2025 (NFL) draft (Shedeur Sanders) and the best player on his roster (Travis Hunter),” Schwartz pondered. “That was one of the advantages of hiring Deion.
“Nobody else has a Travis Hunter to bring. Other teams have also gone portal-heavy and it hasn’t worked. I’m not sure there’s one special formula, like, ‘This is what Deion did, and therefore, we’re going to do the same thing.'”
Some have, though. A closer look at ASU’s two-deep for Saturday’s bashing of Iowa State shows that 17 out of the top 44 on the depth chart were transfers who just got there — including 11 of the top 22 on defense.
Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers are a living, breathing testament to the Prime Method — and did so at a more barren coaching graveyard and in a much tougher league. IU’s QB played at Ohio last year. Its top rusher was at Wake Forest. Its top wideout was at James Madison. Its No. 1 tackler and sack leader also parachuted in from the Dukes’ roster.
“I don’t know if there’s another Deion around,” Schwartz continued. “If you get good players, they’ll be good. It’s not that complicated when it comes to college football.”
Power. Playoffs. Prerogative. Under Sanders, the Buffs are poised to become the USC of flyover states. The school where the five stars want to play. The practices movie stars want to come to watch.
The NFL is a league of thin ice. In Boulder, Coach Prime walks on water.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
