By Rock Westfall
In my Sunday column on the Colorado blowout at Nebraska I mentioned that the truth had finally caught up to Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes football program. In previous columns, I warned of what was to come in Lincoln against the rejuvenated Huskers and that it would mark the figurative, if not literal, end of Coach Prime ’s time in Boulder. And he gone . It’s not a matter of if, but when.
The departure of Deion Sanders will be tricky for Colorado athletic director Rick George . Like a savvy luxury car salesman, when Prime saw George's desperation, he knew he had an easy mark. George grossly overpaid for an unproven Power Four head coach and admitted he did not have the money at the time to pay Sanders. Yet George just had to have this exotic brand, the likes of which nobody in college football had ever seen.
Now Rick George is stuck with a lemon. Deion Sanders is unreliable, high maintenance, expensive, and has been outed as completely out of his element. But an athletic department that is already cash-strapped is on the hook for 75% of Prime’s remaining contract . One potential factor that could further strangle both sides is that Sanders will owe CU $10 million if he walks away this year.
Thus, the path forward is a mutual parting of ways with a settlement, which both sides must take.
Colorado House of Cards Collapses
In Saturday’s 28-10 loss at Nebraska, the score did not do the game justice. Nebraska could see that there was no way Colorado was going to beat them. With a 28-0 halftime lead, they just ran the clock in the second half, knowing Colorado was no threat.
Matt Rhule and Sanders are in their second seasons at their respective programs. The difference is telling.
The game illustrated a real substantive professional coach (Nebraska’s Matt Rhule) against an utter incompetent. Rhule builds through recruiting, player development, and culture. What Rhule and his players do is embrace the grind of endless hard work and accountability. It’s not easy , nor is it for everyone, but those who agree to the challenge are being rewarded. Nebraska is on its way .
By contrast, Sanders builds nothing. Instead, he wings it. He refuses to get in the weeds of recruiting. Instead, he luxuriates and uses the portal to select players from other schools. By doing this, Coach Prime is failing his son, Shedeur Sanders , the Buffs quarterback. Shedeur was knocked out of the Nebraska game, and the end of the 2023 campaign, because his father failed to comprehend what it takes to build a reliable offensive line.
A case could be made that Deion Sanders is guilty of a college football version of parental negligence, if not outright abuse, for subjecting his son to such preventable violence.
Rick George and Colorado Have Lost All Dignity and the Football Program
Rick George looked like the smartest man in the room after Deion Sanders won his first three games for CU in 2023. Since then, the experiment has collapsed, and there are no signs that it will improve under Prime’s leadership.
Not only is Colorado losing credibility and football games but has lost all self-respect and dignity. It's losing football coach is reportedly demanding that the band play rap songs instead of the traditional fight song when Shedeur tosses a TD pass.
George will now have to face tens of thousands of fools who bought into a Prime Time scam with season ticket purchases and donations. Colorado is looking at another losing season without a bowl berth.
After the 2024 campaign, Deion Sanders will send his sons off to the NFL. Only the willing blind Colorado Cultists believe that Prime will stay, change his ways, and actually try and build a legitimate program. But the one thing Sanders will do is ensure he gets paid.
Last year, Rick George was the beneficiary of the Prime Time Colorado hype, being named Athletic Director of the Year by the NCAA (consider the source!). Colorado sold out all its football games in 2023 and saw an increase in revenue and new enrollments. But all of that is unsustainable. The truth has finally gotten its boots on.
Sanders is the third full-time coach since George took over in 2013. Only Mike MacIntyre , who George inherited, had any kind of on-field success when he put the Buffs in the 2016 Pac-12 championship game. George has deep Colorado ties that date back to Bill McCartney’s Glory Years. But that may not save him in the end.
Rick George made a big gamble and initially had a big stack for a minute. But now he and his school are being cleaned out. George is learning you can't beat the house, or in this case, the fundamental truths of college football.
As circus promoter PT Barnum once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Boulder has quite a circus on its hands and untold scores of fools who bought into it.
Rick George should follow Deion Sanders out the door today.
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