The Colorado Buffaloes have fewer than 30 scholarship players on its roster.
There is a level of scrutiny when you are a head coach at any level. When you are Deion Sanders — or Coach Prime, as he prefers — there’s even more because everything is public. That said, Colorado University could not have asked for a better start to the Coach Prime era in Boulder. Prime has been the talk of college football since he was hired, and the Buffs have been one of the hottest stories in the sport. Every columnist, vlogger, and show host appreciates the content as well.
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Colorado’s spring game was on ABC last Saturday, and there were over 40,000 fans in attendance despite it being 30 degrees and snowing during the exhibition. Coach Prime has had cameras all over his program since arriving in Boulder, including having Well off Media following the Buffs around campus. Deion Sanders, Jr. runs Well-off Media for anyone scoring at home.
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What should we think of the mass exodus in Boulder?
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The short answer is not a lot. We’ve seen this before. Jim McElwain ran Will Grier off to West Virginia. James Franklin did the same with Will Levis. Even Tom O’Brien forced Russell Wilson out at North Carolina State when he floundered between playing baseball and football. New coaches constantly flip rosters, especially when the team is terrible.
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Sanders is taking on the task of flipping the worst roster in the entire Power Five, and that cannot be understated. We have not seen a roster flip as extreme as Coach Prime’s attempt. When Scott Satterfield took over at Louisville, the Cardinals had 38 scholarship players coming into summer camp before the transfer portal’s advent.
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We had to know that someone would try this in this era of the transfer portal. It seems extreme because we’ve never seen the machinations of a head coach made so public. That said, people who cover the sport or fans know that this always goes on. 63 of 83 scholarship players is a lot; however, Colorado could have played in Conference USA and not made a bowl game last season, so why not try an extreme flip of the roster?
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With the portal re-opening, it will be interesting to see how Sanders and his staff manage the portal. All eyes will be on Boulder, which is how Coach Prime wants it.
