Deion Sanders enters the 2026 season under significant pressure after Colorado finished 3-9 last year.
The Buffaloes need a major turnaround, and questions about Sanders’ future are becoming harder to ignore. With the spotlight firmly on the Hall of Famer, one college football insider believes Sanders made a major mistake in how he has built the program.
CFB Insider Calls Out Deion Sanders
Colorado had a strong 2024 season under Sanders, finishing 9-4 overall and 7-2 in Big 12 play. Led by Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, the Buffaloes were in the Big 12 and College Football Playoff race entering November, but late-season losses ended their chances.
The Buffaloes then struggled badly in 2025, finishing 3-9 and putting even more pressure on Sanders heading into his fourth season.
Speaking on 92.3 The Fan, CFB insider Ari Wasserman noted that Sanders’ situation is different from most college coaches. He noted that Colorado was in the playoff race two years ago and produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Hunter), something the program had not done in years.
Wasserman also pointed out that Colorado has made significant financial progress under Sanders, making it difficult to judge his tenure purely by wins and losses. At the same time, he argued that Sanders has never followed the traditional path of a college coach.
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“He’s done nothing that typical coaches do. I have strong opinions about the way that he recruits, and I think his No. 1 qualification for being Colorado’s coach when he got the job was being famous.
The fact that he never walked into high school hallways is a huge miscalculation on his part… which is bizarre to me. He’s made Colorado relevant in a way that maybe no one else could have,” Wasserman remarked.
Despite those concerns, Wasserman acknowledged that Sanders has accomplished something previous Colorado coaches struggled to do: make the program relevant again.
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Colorado’s Unusual Roster Strategy
Sanders has largely relied on the transfer portal instead of traditional high school recruiting to reshape the Buffaloes.
Ahead of the 2026 season, Colorado added more than 40 transfers, while over 30 players left the program. The approach has allowed Sanders to bring in experienced players quickly, but it has also raised questions about roster depth, chemistry, and long-term development.
For Sanders, the formula now comes down to results. Colorado needs to improve significantly in 2026, and whether Sanders can turn the program around will likely determine how long he remains in Boulder.
