Deion Sanders and Colorado are looking to put last season’s disappointment behind them as they prepare to open the 2026 campaign against Georgia Tech on Thursday. Meanwhile, the pressure is already building around Coach Prime’s position, as hot-seat discussions have followed him into the new season.
Deion Sanders’ Colorado Future in Doubt as Analyst Draws Brutal Jim Mora Comparison
With Jim Mora becoming Colorado State’s fourth head coach since 2019, the team is bringing in a veteran coach with plenty of experience.
Mora has also built a reputation for taking on struggling programs and turning them around. After inheriting a UConn team that went 1-11 in 2021, he led the Huskies to bowl appearances in three of his four seasons.
Mora is coming off consecutive nine-win campaigns at UConn. It is a feat the program had not accomplished since 2007. That kind of turnaround is something many expected to see in Colorado when Sanders took over.
PREDICT THE CFB SEASON: PFN’s Free CFB Playoff Predictor
Sanders initially appeared to be moving the Buffaloes in that direction, but the team’s struggles last season have raised questions about whether his approach can produce sustained success.
While comparing the vastly different rebuilding philosophies of Sanders and Mora, columnist Woody Paige argued that Mora relied more heavily on coaching, while Sanders focused heavily on bringing in high-profile talent through recruiting.
“His first year, Connecticut was rebuilding,” Paige said. “He had been rebuilding since the original Revolutionary War in football. They weren’t any good, but he turned them around and made them into a competent team. He did it with coaching.
“Deion did it with players (recruiting)… His players are the difference… He was going for the main people. He thought that if he had (Warren) Sapp, if he had Marshall (Faulk), that players (would) want to come here. So he was surrounding himself with, ‘We’re going to be celebrity football here because I’m Coach Prime.’”
Deion Sanders and Jim Mora are taking two very different approaches to rebuilding.
Tom Green and Woody Paige compare Deion’s recruiting-heavy strategy at Colorado with Mora’s coaching-first approach at CSU.
Presented by RedBird Farms. pic.twitter.com/DUNtNqSFnv
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) September 2, 2026
Paige also believes Sanders could be approaching a make-or-break point in Boulder as he attempts to recover from a disastrous 2025 season.
“Is he past his Prime?” Paige said. “I think that this could be his last year because he’s got to show something.”
DIVE IN: PFN’s Free CFB HQ — Team and Player Stats, Info, and More
Sanders inherited a Colorado program that had gone 1-11 the previous season and immediately generated enormous attention after opening his tenure with a 3-0 start. However, the Buffaloes struggled once conference play began and ended the 2023 season at 4-8.
Colorado bounced back to finish 9-4 in 2024, but the momentum disappeared in Sanders’ third season as the Buffaloes fell to 3-9.
MORE: ‘Check Your Facts’ — USC Legend Rips Texas Tech HC Joey McGuire for ‘Talking Crazy’
There is little doubt that Sanders brought national attention and renewed excitement to Colorado football. However, with another potentially difficult season ahead, the biggest question is whether the program will remain patient if the results do not improve.
PFN currently gives Colorado only a 0.8% chance of reaching the College Football Playoff in 2026.
