No use in titling the thread Colorado Football because he could up and take his football team to a different school. That said, I'm watching this Colorado-CSU game and it's quite an entertaining spectacle so far. I swear I have seen more Deion than football, it's like a 3 hour commercial for the Prime brand.
Looks like Colorado believed in their own hype and are about to lose to a 23.5-point underdog. Deion should stop the circus (celebrities in the locker room, the Rock, Pat McAfee show in town, etc.) and get back to coaching football.
It's nuts. I was at my local Xfinity store last weekend. I said something to the sales dude about getting home to watch college football. Dude asked who my team was. Apparently the huge Georgia Football logo on my shirt wasn't clear enough. He went on to tell me how he's a HUGE college football fan - but just Colorado. And then got visibly upset and lost any interest in friendly customer service after I said Colorado had a "nice little team" and "might get six wins". By the way, try the "nice little team" thing someday. Nothing pisses off an opposing fan more. In this case, it was appropriate, because this was clearly a guy brand-friggin'-new to college football and MIGHT be able to name the two teams in last year's championship - only because one of them played Colorado. I've enjoyed the Deion ride up to this point, but I'm pretty close to my saturation point with all the sloganeering and "Do you believe!" silliness. Colorado had been a really well coached, disciplined team, with one other-worldly star, a solid young RB, a pretty mature QB playing better than I ever saw him play at Jackson State, and another 10-12 semi-reliable JAGS. I'd rather that be the focus. I'm now at the point where I want Oregon to stomp them back down to earth. The only problem will be the three weeks of Travis Hunter injury excuses that follows and more Henry Blackburn death threats.
I love what Deion is doing. I think he could end up being one of the best college football coaches ever when it is all said and done. Yes I did say best ever. Of course, longevity is a thing he'd have to perform at a high level for decades to reach best ever status. I'm not sure he has the stamina for that, so probably not, but he has everything else Look, college football did this to themselves with the ridiculous transfer changes and lack of governance with NIL. Deion is just playing the game they made for him. If you are a young hotshot recruit do you really want to play for some of these dullard coaches or do you want to go to beautiful Boulder, CO and play for Deion freakin Sanders. It is an easy decision. And then you got guys even doing great in the SEC, they could stick around another year where they are but why? Is Fayetteville, Arkansas really all that great? With the transfer rules, you can leave and suit up for Deion right away The video clips, instagram/tik tok stuff, love it or hate it, is very enticing to college aged players. Deion is killing it there, never seen someone with such focus on that in his program. He has connections to so many deep pockets, they can just pay for guys to come there that already want to. Thanks NIL -- having said that - this week they will get destroyed by Oregon. They aren't there yet..... yet. (oregon plays the same game with the Nike money)
I don't disagree with some of your points and generally like the spirit of it all. The "best ever" part, though - let's not get kooky here. The chance of Deion winning a championship, let alone becoming the best ever is in, like, the negative probabilities. You owe points BACK to the board for that. Especially at Colorado. It's okay, though. I'm just triggered, not troubled. Two separate problems. I'll tell you my thoughts why and you're free to be triggered back. He's a much better coach than anyone ever expected, brought in a decent staff, and he's making entertainment. Plus, he came into FBS level football coaching at exactly the right time. We're still just three games into his tenure, though. Even if Deion turns Colorado into a perennial contender - which recent realignment and the 12-team playoff make less IMpossible - he's at least three years behind where he needs to be on talent. Maybe more. A coach like Kirby Smart has probably seen a kid at two UGA summer camps before he's even allowed to make an offer. Deion had to start recruiting cold. As I'm typing here, he's miles behind where people thought he'd be by now. Colorado is hovering around a 75th in recruiting. They've already been lapped by new conference rivals like Texas Tech and UCF which have, themselves, been lapped by all the top recruiting schools. Sure, Deion knows a ton of people, some of them certainly have deep pockets. He's also growing an incredible media infrastructure behind him, and I can't think of any coach that could copy that model. PJ Fleck kinda tried. Ridiculously, and not close to what Deion is doing. I'm also sure he can close the deal with kids as well as anyone. He already proved that with a couple kids last year. The problem he's always going to have is - there's only one Deion Sanders. The guys on his staff doing all the recruiting grunt-work are competing each day with guys that have tons more experience at it and three times the booster money and resources that Colorado will ever have. That's not just today. That's forever and always. The boosters at schools like Georgia, Auburn, Oklahoma and especially Texas could buy five University of Colorado football programs. And they bring kids in for a visit to stadiums that could swallow Folsom Field whole. Twice. Colorado has brand new football facilities that look pretty sweet. I'll give them that. Compared to some of the newer facilities in the SEC, it's like parking a Tesla next to a Lamborghini. Don't take my word for it. Tons of Youtube clips. You can compare for yourself. And don't forget about the great unknown in realignment - money that's sat for years itching to be spent. Wait until a disgustingly-filthy-rich school like SMU joins the ACC and starts pissing hundred dollar bills all over the Southeast. This time - legally. The good news is - Deion still has a few months until NSD, with a few wins under his belt and a shitload of TV exposure to sell. The bad news - most of the blue chip talent is committed and they already spent their official visits late last Spring and early Summer, not counting their first intro at the school's summer camp. Jim Harbaugh realized that problem minutes after he was hired and pissed off the SEC by holding summer football camps right in the SEC's backyard. Didn't work. The point is, if Deion wants to lure fresh talent to Colorado, he needs to flip committed players who now have to travel to Colorado on their own dime - during their own football season, when Boulder Colorado is slightly colder than Buford, Georgia. And, if that weren't tough enough, there's a reason why the biggest recruiting push is in late-Spring and early-Summer. Because a huge chunk of Fall and Winter is either Dead Period or Quiet Period. So, Deion is limited on the amount of contact and the hard selling he can do. A committed recruit still gets a weekly call or text during the Quiet Period. His folks do also. And his coach. And whoever else his committed school can keep sweet-talking to make sure he doesn't flip. Deion has five times the work and only a fraction of the time. And, as I said, there's only one of him. I doubt Sal Sunseri can be as compelling. Add to that, the dickwads at the NCAA had their enforcement balls cut off on all the things except recruiting rules. You can expect strict enforcement from a bunch of wastes-of-space who need to keep justifying fat salaries for jobs where everyone already hates them. But, what am I saying?! We already know Deion can flip blue chip players. After all, he flipped Cormani McClain from Miami in December. With snow on the ground!! A few other decent guys also - not counting Shilo, Shedeur and Travis. They weren't recruits, they were luggage. Deion's words, not mine. So, he can certainly flip a handful of blue chips between now and NSD. No argument there. On the other hand, a small handful of blue chips gets most SEC coaches fired. It's why Dan Mullen is now in the broadcast studio. Good at it, but not by choice. For Deion, a watered-down Big12 and a 12-team playoff at least guarantees Colorado a fair shot at the playoff. Same shot TCU got last year and Cincinnati got the year before - right before they got curb-stomped. Still more good news - there's always the transfer portal. Deion's got that down cold. But, he can only remake his entire roster through the portal once. Also, the unfortunate flip-side of the transfer portal - the majority of portal players are transferring because they couldn't crack the starting lineup to get all the playing time they expected. The portal coughs out ten JAGS for every AD MItchell or Keon Coleman. Good for positions of value, though. There will always be at least a few decent QBs. ND and Alabama are showing us both sides of why that's super important. The only problem with the transfer window is - just like it says: it's a window. In the recruiting timeline, not a very long one, We know that teams are trying to poach players outside of the window, so he could probably get away with one or two of those. Here's a bold prediction: the first school that pulls three or more elite (read: Top 10) players from the portal in one cycle will be on probation and have recruiting restrictions imposed a year later. No way they wouldn't have been tampering. More coaches will get pissed off and join the Pat Narduzzi / Mack Brown bitch sessions about tampering. More busy-work for NCAA pantloads. Also, you only get one free transfer. Players need to make it count. For schools, it's bloodsport. From the minute the window opens, teams now hover over the transfer wire 24/7 just so they can make first contact. Colorado filled its roster and that was cool to watch. But not one single player Deion signed out of the transfer portal would start for Georgia. Again, not counting Deion's luggage. Outside of signing the next Caleb Williams, he's not winning a championship through the portal. Grad transfers? Sure, why not. No limits there. But then, if you're an impact player, you're leaving for the NFL after Year Three. Most grad transfers are FCS and Division II players with one year left, looking to play a year of BigTime college ball and MAYBE get a shot at the NFL. QB's might be the only exception. You'll occasionally see a QB with mid-round talent take a grad transfer shot with a team that can help show off their talent. Not really a recruiting strategy. So, yeah, Deion Sanders - a good coach with all sorts of interesting possibilities ahead. None of which include either a championship or a GOAT label. Beyond which, Shilo's gone after this year, Shedeur and Travis probably leave after two. I'm not betting my milk money on Deion coaching more than 4-5 years. At least not at Colorado. Maybe if one of the Florida or Texas jobs opens, after banging his head against the wall for a bunch of the reasons above, he'll jump to a program with more potential.
I am not triggered. You can disagree, its cool. I am tired after a long day so I dont have much of a strong response, I do agree with a lot of your points. Mainly the short window - Deion physically has ailments and looks tired. He doesnt look like a lifer at the college level and I doubt he sticks at Boulder for 20 years or something crazy so yeah, probably not best ever for that reason alone. But I do think he can win a National Championship someday. The tampering stuff is not a problem, they bitch and moan but they all tamper. The guy from FAU last year said his guys were getting actively recruited during their run to the Final 4 last year. Recruiting and poaching players is non-stop and the NCAA aint doing shit. Also- its only a matter of time before they get rid of that one-time transfer rule. Personally I like the rule, I think they should go back to making all transfers sit even. But UNC gets 1 fuckin guy on his 2nd transfer and they piss and moan endlessly, getting out the lawyers. Its called a rule. And the media is taking up for them. Tides will turn and that rule will be obsolete too soon He's got a long way before he reaches Georgia, no doubt. but yeah it took Kirby Smart years to build Georgia. It is Deion's first year
They are getting crushed so far today and I don't see this as fixing some things at half time and coming back.
Y’know what I’ve been really impressed with about Deion? He’s been really classy at times when most other coaches wouldnt. Ryan Day has been whining for nine months about a hit that every non-OSU fan agrees was legal. Deion’s best player gets his liver lacerated on what was 100% a cheap shot, but Deion defends Henry Blackburn, essentially saying “That’s part of football.” Dan Lanning talks trash, backs it up, and Deion goes overboard complimenting the Oregon coaching staff. Surprising.
Through all the years of self-promoting and bluster and pimp suits, none of it ever took away my feeling that Deion is a genuinely decent person under it all. Cue the sex scandal.
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/09/3...-cant-wait-to-join-deion-sanders-at-colorado/ This is new. HS players skipping the rest of senior year football to focus their college career.
I think the most surprising thing is that under it all he’s a good football coach whose assembled a good staff. There were (false) rumors that when he went to Jackson State he was going to hire all these HOFers who never coached before and it sounded like a circus. Now they go into irrelevancy a while though. They play two bad teams no one cares about and the college football world will be talking about Heisman finalists and CFP teams by the team they play UCLA around Halloween.