Stephen A. Smith Believes Deion Sanders Would Thrive In Another Conference

On Tuesday's episode of ESPN's "First Take," Stephen A. Smith appeared alongside Paul Finebaum and Shannon Sharpe, expressing his opinion that Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders would be an excellent head coach in the SEC, specifically at recruiting, as opposed to Colorado.

During the show's segment discussing the Buffaloes' Saturday blowout 28-10 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Smith revealed he wanted Sanders to be the head coach at Florida State and Texas A&M when those positions were open. Smith also explained how he believes Sanders will have a difficult time attracting talented recruits to commit to Colorado and that his persona would fit perfectly in the recruiting scene of the SEC.

"Paul Feinbaum, I would love to disagree with you on what you said about primetime Deion Sanders that you wouldn't be surprised if he's ultimately looking to get up out of here," Smith said. "But I don't disagree with you. A matter of fact, I hope you're right. Because I was one of those people, Shannon, that I wanted Deion at Florida State, and then when he didn't get that job, I wanted him at Texas A&M.

"Put Deion Sanders in a big-time SEC program or something along those lines where recruiting comes into play, and I think that you'll see him do lights out. But in Boulder, Colorado, I just don't believe that's going to happen."

Smith added that Colorado had the nation's worst rushing attack last fall and are well on their way to repeating its title with the lack of experience and skill at the offensive line. Additionally, he mentioned that the pass protection from the five new offensive linemen has looked worse so far this season than it did in 2023.

"Last year, the Colorado Buffaloes had the worst rushing attack in the nation, averaging 68.9 yards per game. Do y'all know that they're worse this year at 37.5 yards? That is an atrocity,” Smith added.

“That is horrible. Okay, now, FYI, loss to sacks are included in rush yards in college football, not the NFL. But in college football, the amount of times that you're sacked and the yardage that you lose, that counts as a rush, okay? Shedeur Sanders has been sacked 58 times since last season, 58 times, second most in the nation. He's getting slaughtered... So you don't have an offensive line, which means you can't pass protect and you can't run block. So we don't even know how to judge the running backs, and we don't know if we can judge Shedeur Sanders so much because he's getting slaughtered.”

With Coach Prime and his Colorado squad recovering their Week 2 loss to Nebraska, the program will shift their focus to the Week 3 matchup against in-state rival Colorado State Rams. That clash will occur from Canvas Stadium in Fort Collin, Colorado, on Sept. 14. The start time for the game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on CBS.

Related: Joel Klatt Names College Football Program That Is 'Carbon Copy' Of Last Year's Team