Deion Sanders and Colorado have an identity crisis going into next year originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Colorado Buffaloes are really struggling this season, and it's getting pretty bad. Coach Prime started off saying this year's team was better than last year's, but fans are looking for answers from him now, saying his excuses aren't cutting it anymore. Honestly, the team has actually gotten worse in a few spots.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Buffs' running game has been flat every year under Coach Prime. In 2023, they ran for 827 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2024, it was 847 yards and 15 touchdowns. And this year, they've only got 1,356 yards and 13 touchdowns, even with an NFL Hall of Famer in Marshall Faulk on the coaching staff.
Coach Prime wants to see leadership, but that should come from position coaches pushing the athletes who are doing things right to step up, and creating competition to see who becomes a leader once the older guys leave.
This is the first time in Coach Prime's career that none of his relatives named Sanders are on the team to relay his message to the players. Now that Shilo, Shedeur, Travis Hunter, and a bunch of others have moved on, the question analysts are too scared to ask (because they don't want to get shut out by Coach Prime) is are the players starting to question who's really leading the team?
I'm not saying Coach Prime or the other Buffs coaches are bad leaders, but all the criticism, sarcasm, and general lack of investment from the coaches might be making the players rethink their situation and what's best for their future.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe future of the Buffs' football program after their last game is going to be must-watch TV, especially since Julian Lewis decided to skip playing against Kansas State and redshirt this season. A quarterback can totally make or break a program. Julian Lewis, the Buffs' five-star freshman QB, played his fourth and final game last week. This season, he completed 52 out of 94 passes for 589 yards, 4 touchdowns, with a 55.3% completion rate.
Coach Prime is questioning the team's leadership when the team doesn't even know who's going to lead them into battle every week. Leadership starts at the top and trickles down to the players. Their identity comes from the head coach and coaching staff.
Hopefully, next year at this time, we'll be talking about the Buffs playing for a Big 12 Championship. Lewis being out this weekend will be interesting for the Buffs' quarterback situation and how things shake out in the offseason.
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