Deion Sanders has reached a point at Colorado where the conversation is shifting from excitement to results. The Buffaloes enter a new season with a reworked roster, a new coaching setup, and a different quarterback leading the offense.
This gives Sanders another opportunity to reshape the program, but it also leads to a bigger question about what he brings to Colorado now.
Dan Wolken Questions Deion Sanders’ Value as Colorado Coach
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken has recently written a column on the Buffaloes, in which he has shared that Sanders’ biggest advantage at Colorado has changed. This new circumstance, he thinks, leaves the Buffaloes coach with fewer places to hide if the wins do not follow.
Wolken pointed to the early impact Sanders had on the program, from drawing fans to increasing NIL resources and television interest, while questioning whether his celebrity presence still provides the same recruiting benefit in today’s college football environment.
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Wolken summed up the pressure surrounding Sanders even more directly, titling his column, “Coach Prime’s honeymoon phase is over and the luster is gone. Colorado needs to win now.”
“When Sanders arrived at Colorado and instantly brought fans to the stadium and money to the NIL fun and insane TV ratings, instantly reviving a program that had been dormant for years, you could squint and see the pathway to longstanding national relevance,” Wolken wrote.
Wolken connected Sanders’ recruiting success to an era when his personal reputation carried significant weight. He cited Travis Hunter’s decision to initially enroll at Jackson State as an example of Sanders attracting elite talent despite the program’s stature.
But the columnist believes that the advantage is harder to maintain when recruiting increasingly revolves around NIL resources.
Colorado has brought in more than 40 scholarship transfers for 2026, moving toward veteran experience rather than relying as heavily on developing unproven talent. The coaching staff has also undergone major changes, with Brennan Marion taking over as offensive coordinator and installing his Go-Go offense.
Meanwhile, this season, Julian Lewis, the five-star recruit signed in 2024 as Shedeur Sanders’ eventual successor, will take over the starting quarterback job.
That overhaul gives Sanders a new roster and coaching structure, but Wolken argues the ultimate measure remains the scoreboard. “It leads to the existential question of this season: If Sanders is no longer dominating the zeitgeist and his celebrity is no longer a major edge in recruiting, what value is he bringing as a college head coach?” Wolken wrote.
His answer is straightforward: “It can only be in the winning. He has not done enough of it yet.”
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Colorado went 3-9 in 2025 and begins the 2026 campaign Thursday at Georgia Tech. The Buffaloes then face Weber State and Northwestern before opening their Big 12 schedule at Baylor.
With the season now underway, Sanders has the chance to address Wolken’s central criticism on the field rather than through his profile off it.
