Deion Sanders' roller-coaster first year at Colorado: A timeline
The Deion Sanders experience at Colorado has been one that has seen incredible highs and serious lows in "Coach Prime’s" first season in Boulder.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer was hired as head football coach in December 2022 to resurrect a down program coming off a 1-11 season.
Sanders’ hire immediately made headlines as debates began about whether he was the right man for the job.
It never felt like there was any in-between for Sanders. Fans of the sport either loved the hire or hated it, feeling that Colorado would either succeed in his first season or tank.
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In reality, it’s been a successful yet disappointing season for Sanders as he looks to make his mark on a Power 5 program.
"Coach Prime" wasted no time making his presence felt in Boulder, causing a stir with his first meeting with returning players.
Sanders was direct, telling them to "get ready to go ahead and jump in that [transfer] portal" as he was bringing players with him from Jackson State University.
It was a sign of what was to come at Colorado as Sanders kicked off the greatest flip of a roster that college football has ever seen.
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As expected, Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son, announced his decision to transfer from Jackson State to Colorado shortly after his father took the job.
After landing Shedeur, Sanders convinced the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class to follow him to Colorado as Travis Hunter joined Sanders in Boulder.
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Both were big pickups for Sanders as he looked to infuse his roster with talent.
The impact of Sanders as head coach was felt immediately in Boulder.
On National Signing Day, Sanders pulled in the 21st-ranked class and a top-five transfer portal class, according to 247Sports. Sanders signed two five-star recruits, a first in the history of the program.
For comparison, the Buffs had the 58th-ranked class in 2022.
"We’re not recruiting just no ordinary Tom, Dick and Harry," Sanders said. "We recruited some guys that can light up the scoreboard and prevent touchdowns from occurring. We’re coming. We’re serious about that."
"Hope is in the house. Hope is in the air. Hope is in the city. Hope is in the community."
While appearing as a guest on "The Rich Eisen Show," Sanders discussed what he looks for in recruits.
"Well, we have different attributes. Smart, tough, fast, disciplined with character. Now, quarterbacks are different," Sanders told Eisen. "We want mother, father – dual parent. We want that kid to be 3.5 [GPA] and up because he has to be smart. Not bad decisions off the field at all because he has to be a leader of men."
On the defensive side of the football, Sanders shared a different set of attributes he looks for.
"Defensive linemen is totally opposite. Single mama, trying to get it, he’s on free lunch," Sanders continued. "I’m talking about just trying to make it. He’s trying to rescue mama. Like, mama barely made the flight. And I want him to just go get it."
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"It’s a whole different attribute that you look for in different positions. And we have that stuff just chronicled. We know what we want, and we go get it."
Not everyone appreciated Sanders’ candor, with ESPN analyst Marcus Spears tweeting his displeasure.
"This s--- ain't funny," Spears said in a tweet.
The Buffs sold more than 30,000 tickets to Sanders’ first spring game, with the previous record for attendance in 2008 when 17,800 fans showed up, according to the Denver Post.
Sanders’ arrival brought energy to a program that had been down for years.
Following Colorado’s spring game, Sanders’ roster overhaul became apparent as 18 players entered the transfer portal, bringing the total number to enter the portal since Sanders took the job to 41, according to The Athletic.
"You all know that we’re going to move on from some of the team members, and we’re going to reload and get some kids that we really identify with," Sanders said after the spring game. "So, this process is going to be quick, it’s going to be fast, but we’re going to get it done."
Shortly after, Colorado athletic director Rick George threw his support behind Sanders as he went about reconstructing his roster.
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"I have confidence in him and his staff, and they know what they're doing," George told ESPN following the Pac-12's spring meetings. "He's been very honest and forthright. He's been very open about it publicly and privately. He's trying to build a winner at Colorado, and this is his way to do it."
By May, more than 70 players had left the team since Sanders took the job in December.
While some players entered the transfer portal voluntarily, the NCAA does allow first-year head coaches to cut players from the roster, though the university must honor the players' scholarships.
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi took issue with Sanders' roster reconstruction, ripping "Coach Prime" in an interview with 247Sports.
"That's not the way it's meant to be," Narduzzi told 247Sports at the ACC's spring meetings. "That's not what the rule [was] intended to be. It was not to overhaul your roster. We'll see how it works out, but that, to me, looks bad on college football coaches across the country. The reflection is on one guy right now, but when you look at it overall – those kids that have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and goals in life – I don't know how many of those 70 that left really wanted to leave or they were kicked in the butt to get out."
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Sanders responded, saying Narduzzi was directing his ire at him over circumstances that didn’t involve him.
"What was his situation when he came to Pitt? He had a different situation than me," Sanders told 247Sports when asked about Narduzzi’s criticism of his roster overhaul.
"He is not mad at me, he is mad at the situation in football now that allowed his best player to leave a year ago. He’s not mad at me, he’s using me to shoot bullets at another coach who he has an issue with. I don’t know who he is. If he walked in here right now, I wouldn’t know him."
After months of waiting, the Buffaloes finally took the field against then-No. 17 TCU.
The Buffaloes' offense rolled against the Horned Frogs, one year after TCU played against Georgia in the national championship game.
Shedeur Sanders and Hunter were the stars of the show, with Sanders completing 38 of 47 passes for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Hunter had 11 catches for 119 yards, adding an interception on defense.
"We told you we coming," Sanders said when asked about his message to the Colorado fan base. "We told you we coming. You thought we was joking. And guess what? We keep receipts."
After defeating Nebraska to move to 2-0 on the season, CU prepared for in-state rival Colorado State.
Rams head coach Jay Norvell decided to provide bulletin board material for Sanders and his Buffaloes.
"We had to do a bunch of ESPN videos. And it’s great. I loved it. But our kids came out of those videos really with a chip on their shoulder," Norvell said on his weekly radio show. "They’re tired of all that stuff. They really are tired of it."
"I sat down with ESPN today. And I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, ‘I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off.’ And I said, ‘When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off.’ That’s what my mother taught me. They’re not going to like us no matter what we say or do. It doesn’t matter. So, let’s go up there and play."
Colorado was able to do their talking on the field, beating Colorado State to move to 3-0 on the year.
Following their 3-0 start, the college football world was all about Colorado. The Buffaloes were the talk of the sport, with segment after segment on radio and TV shows around the country focused on Sanders’ job at Colorado.
And then reality hit.
Oregon blew the doors off Colorado, taking a 35-0 lead into halftime. USC beat the Buffaloes the following week, taking a 34-14 lead into halftime before CU made a game of it in the second half.
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While the losses brought Sanders to 3-2 on the year, most expected losses to Oregon and USC in his first season.
After all the hoopla to start the year, Colorado is currently a 4-7 team that won’t play in a bowl game.
The Buffaloes have lost five straight since beating Arizona State in October.
Included in the losing streak was a total collapse to Stanford, with the Cardinal completing the biggest comeback in school history, winning 46-43 in double overtime.
After competitive losses to UCLA, Oregon State and Arizona, Washington State laid the wood on Colorado in Week 12, beating the Buffs 56-14.
Colorado has one game remaining against Utah on Saturday before an offseason that will undoubtedly focus on Sanders’ roster.
Fox News' Ryan Morik contributed to this report.