Colorado stood out as college football’s big winner last September. The Buffaloes took down TCU and Nebraska and suddenly became the center of the sports world in their first month of action under head coach Deion Sanders.
Yet everything since then has been forgettable.
Sanders and Colorado finished 2023 at just 4-8 despite starting 3-0. The negative headlines followed the Buffs into the offseason, with a slew of transfer exits and controversial comments by coaches and players.
Sanders will hope that improvement on the field will erase all of the noise. But Colorado won’t have an easy path to bowl eligibility in a brand new Big 12.
Here’s a look back at Colorado’s offseason of trouble, from a staff shakeup to Sanders’ recent decision to ban a reporter.
MORE: Deion Sanders talks to SN about 2024 expectations for Colorado
Deion Sanders’ Colorado offseason timeline
Sanders shakes up Colorado’s coaching staff
The offseason started before it even began for Colorado when Sanders made the in-season decision to demote offensive coordinator Sean Lewis and make Pat Shurmur the offensive play-caller despite the defense seemingly causing more problems for the Buffaloes in 2023.
Lewis ultimately got a promotion, becoming the head coach at San Diego State, while Shurmur got the full-time OC job.
Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Charles Kelly became the fifth assistant to leave Colorado after 2023 when he became co-DC at Auburn in December. He was replaced by Robert Livingston, who spent the last eight seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive backs coach.
Sanders filled one void by bringing in former NFL star Warren Sapp as a defensive assistant, a move that came with controversy due to a history of domestic violence. Sanders also filled the pivotal role of offensive line coach with former Vikings tackle Phil Loadholt after a tumultuous year for Colorado’s line.
Colorado hit by avalanche of transfer exits
Colorado made headlines for its aggressive use of the transfer portal in 2023, but the portal hurt the Buffaloes in 2024 when a slew of players left in the spring.
In the first 48 hours after the spring transfer window opened, 15 players entered the transfer portal, including former five-star CB Cormani McClain. Just two were holdovers from the pre-Sanders era.
Sanders rejected the idea that the portal exits were a cause for concern, telling reporters in April: “I wish you guys would do a little more homework when you start talking about the portal and understand what we’re losing. What are we losing?”
While seeing that many players exit in April is jarring, Colorado didn’t lose much production from 2023, to Sanders’ credit. Replacing depth is easier than replacing starters in the spring, and the Buffaloes didn’t seem too concerned about the losses.
MORE: Ranking all 134 FBS college football teams entering 2024
Shedeur Sanders feuds with former teammate
Deion Sanders was accused by former safety Xavier Smith of “destroying guys’ confidence” in a scathing report by The Athletic, which detailed how swiftly “Coach Prime” moved to whisk players into the transfer portal after he took over the program following the 2022 season.
Smith’s comments didn’t sit well with QB Shedeur Sanders, who said Smith “had to be very mid at best” because he didn’t remember him.
Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best. https://t.co/qwK48Ys0Et
— Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) April 30, 2024
Ironically, though, Sanders’ tweet was in response to comments that described how his father “never even tried” to get to know players. The quarterback’s tweet was widely criticized because it only seemed to support Smith’s claims.
Colorado bans reporter from asking questions
Colorado banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking questions of Sanders or players ahead of the season, a decision that did not sit well with many in the media.
“After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events,” the school’s athletic department said in a statement.
The decision came after a spat between Sanders and Keeler during a press conference. Keeler referred to Sanders as “Deposition Deion,” “Bruce Lee of B.S.” and a “false prophet” in his articles, also labeling the program a “circus.”
Keeler is a columnist, not a reporter. His role at The Denver Post is to offer his opinion about the program, and the outlet said it believed Colorado was banning Keeler because it doesn’t like his criticism of the program.
Sanders said less than two weeks earlier that he also wasn’t taking questions from CBS Sports after the outlet ranked him as the second-worst coach in the Big 12.
MORE: Why Colorado accused Oregon of accessing data after 2023 blowout
Deion Sanders contract details and salary
Sanders signed a five-year, $ 29.5 million contract with Colorado in 2022. He’s getting paid an average of $ 5.9 million annually.
That deal makes Sanders as high as the third-highest paid coach in the Big 12, though the salaries of TCU’s Sonny Dykes and BYU’s Kalani Sitake are undisclosed because their schools are private. Dykes received an extension after reaching the College Football Playoff in 2022, so it’s possible his salary is higher than Sanders’ total.
Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy ($ 7.5 million) and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham ($ 6.3 million) rank ahead of Sanders.
Colorado 2024 schedule
| Date | Game | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 29 | vs North Dakota State | 8 p.m. |
| Sept. 7 | at Nebraska | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 14 | at Colorado State | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sept. 21 | vs Baylor | TBA |
| Sept. 28 | at UCF | TBA |
| Oct. 12 | vs Kansas State | TBA |
| Oct. 19 | at Arizona | TBA |
| Oct. 26 | vs Cincinnati | TBA |
| Nov. 9 | at Texas Tech | TBA |
| Nov. 16 | vs Utah | TBA |
| Nov. 23 | at Kansas | TBA |
| Nov. 29 | vs Oklahoma State | 12 p.m. |
