Dear Andy: Will Deion Sanders be at Colorado much longer?

The true nature of some teams has begun to reveal itself, and you, the listeners of Andy Staples On3 , have questions. Let’s dive into the latest edition of Dear Andy to answer your college football questions.

From John :
What do you think the chances are that Deion Sanders is still at Colorado next season?  He loses both his sons and Travis Hunter off the team after this year and if he doesn’t see a noticeable improvement over last year I could see him leaving.

I had high hopes for Sanders when he came to Colorado . He initially hired an experienced staff that looked capable of evaluating talent, and Sanders’ charisma and star power should have made him one of the best recruiters from the high school ranks in the country. But Sanders has either jettisoned or scared off the assistants who could make a difference and replaced them with less qualified people. He also hasn’t taken advantage of what should be his greatest recruiting edges.

Unfortunately, it appears the more cynical among us were correct. They said this was Daddy Ball, which is the term youth sports parents use when the parent of a star player coaches a team for the sole purpose advancing their own child’s career. They said Sanders wouldn’t harness that considerable star power to recruit. They said he’d try to make a showcase for quarterback son Shedeur Sanders and safety son Shilo Sanders along with Hunter, the legitimate two-way star who was Sanders’ greatest recruiting victory and whom Sanders refers to often as another son.

A co-worker who came up as a recruiting reporter watched Sanders on Saturday night at Nebraska and remarked that it looks like what would happen if the stereotypical QB dad we see often in recruiting got the keys to a power conference program. Decisions wouldn’t be made in the best interest of the program. They’d be made for the coach’s son(s) or — since most helicopter QB dads are really doing what they’re doing for themselves and not for their sons — for the coach himself.

Sanders has sold plenty of tickets, and for that the Colorado administration should be grateful. But he hasn’t done anything to suggest he intends to run a competitive program there once Shedeur, Shilo (who is now out after injuring his arm Saturday) and Hunter leave. Colorado’s 2025 recruiting class currently ranks No. 82 in the On3 Industry rankings. The one player Sanders and his staff have tried hard to recruit is Carrollton, Ga., quarterback Julian Lewis . Lewis, a USC commit since August 2023, visited Colorado in June. But after watching Colorado’s rebuilt offensive line look as bad through two games as the one last year that helped allow 56 sacks, it’s difficult to imagine any blue-chip quarterback wanting to sign up to get pounded the way Shedeur has so far at Colorado.

The way to build a good offensive line is by developing players recruited from high school. Sanders should have started grabbing such players the moment he was hired in December 2022. But he relied mostly on the portal, where the good offensive linemen are expensive and the rest are fairly interchangeable. Sanders did sign Jordan Seaton , the No. 1 offensive tackle recruit in the class of 2024, out of high school. But the Buffaloes didn’t have a group of players they were already trying to develop. They signed one high school offensive lineman in the class of 2023. They signed two in 2024, Seaton and British import Yahya Attia .

By contrast, Georgia — a program that competes for national titles — signed 12 offensive linemen out of high school in the classes of 2023 and 2024. Kirby Smart didn’t sign those players to win in 2024. He signed them to win in 2026.

Is Deion Sanders worried about Colorado in 2026? He’s not working like he is. If he was, he and his staff would be scouring the high school ranks looking for the best large people to block and to man the defensive line. Coach Prime himself would be preparing to visit schools and homes to ensure he brought talent on board that he and his staff could develop for future success.

Don’t say Sanders is too famous to enter a high school, either. Nick Saban was the most famous person in Alabama for years, and he visited schools whenever NCAA rules allowed. Of course Deion Sanders’ presence in a high school will cause a stir. That is literally the point of the visit.

If he wants, Coach Prime still can harness his incredible charisma and unimpeachable record as a player to be a nuclear-powered recruiter. With Saban retired, there probably isn’t any coach other than Sanders who could get an NIL discount from a top recruit. He probably has a massive advantage over his competition, but he has thus far declined to use it.

This all suggests that maybe the cynics got it right. Maybe this is Daddy Ball on steroids. And if it is, then it probably won’t last past November.

From Carter :
I’m definitely not panicking about Oklahoma’s offense looking completely inept against a terrible Houston team, and even if I were I think most of the blame falls on a battered O-Line and a young QB.

However, if I were panicking, I’d be curious as to who the top potential OC’s might be entering the upcoming offseason. What are some of the Group of 5 offenses that are worth watching this season and who are some of the best young minds out there leading them? Love the show, amped you and Ari are back together as you should be.

I’m glad you’re not panicking, Carter. And if Oklahoma ’s offense turns it around this week against coach Jon Sumrall’s Tulane defense, then you should breathe a little easier. But just in case anyone else is worried about their offense — because Carter is definitely not panicking — here are a few folks running fun offenses at Group of 5 programs.

Remember how Oklahoma only put up 16 points against Houston and two of those were scored by the defense? The previous week, UNLV scored 27 in a 20-point win against the Cougars. The architect of the Rebels’ offense is Brennan Marion . Marion designed the Go-Go offense during stints at Howard and William and Mary, and his first chance to run it as an FBS coordinator has been a roaring success. The Rebels made the Mountain West championship game last year behind freshman QB Jayden Maiava . Maiava then transferred to USC — after initially committing to Georgia — but the offense is still humming thanks to Holy Cross transfer Matthew Sluka .

Marion would be an excellent candidate for a power conference OC job, but he also might not be available. If UNLV head coach Barry Odom , whose background is on defense and whose defense looks excellent so far, winds up getting a power conference job, he could bring Marion along or Marion might be a great candidate to take over in Las Vegas. But if you want a look at what Marion’s offense looks like, Friday’s matchup with Kansas should be fun.

On Thursday, Carter — who isn’t panicking — might want to tune into the Party School Bowl between Arizona State and Texas State. Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne is the rising star who designed the Bobcats’ offense, but coordinator Mack Leftwich calls it. It’s an incredibly fun scheme that is being run this year by 2023 Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year Jordan McCloud . Last week, Texas State rolled up 504 yards in a 49-10 win against UTSA.

The Bobcats are facing Arizona State, which is coached by Kenny Dillingham . I bring up this power conference head coach because his history could be the path for the next two gentlemen I mention. Dillingham served as an OC for two play-calling head coaches (Gus Malzahn at Auburn and Mike Norvell at Florida State) before getting to call the plays himself in Dan Lanning’s first season as Oregon’s head coach. That led to Dillingham’s hire in Tempe.

In other words, sometimes baby bird flies high the moment he leaves the nest. That’s why some power conference school in search of a dynamic offense might soon look the way of Liberty co-offensive coordinators Willy Korn and Newland Isaac . Everyone knows head coach Jamey Chadwell calls the plays for the Flames and called the plays for Coastal Carolina. But Korn and Isaac have helped develop and evolve one of the most effective offenses in the sport. They’ll eventually get their chance to call it somewhere, and here’s betting one or both is great at it.

From Justin

Dear Andy,

Which is these teams should scare their conference opponents more,  Indiana or Vanderbilt?

Any team with Diego Pavia at quarterback should terrify an opponent, so Vanderbilt certainly will strike more fear into its opponents’ hearts this season than in any season since James Franklin left for Penn State.

That said, first-year Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti should scare everyone in the Big Ten except Ohio State. Cignetti won big at James Madison, and his roster flip upon arriving at Indiana gave the Hoosiers an experienced group that has won a lot of games, albeit at a different level.

It’s telling that Indiana is favored by 3.5 points on the road in its Big Ten opener against UCLA. Sure, the Bruins are rebuilding under a new coach as well, but we’re talking about Indiana here. The Hoosiers never scare anyone. But they do now.

A Random Ranking

Reader Josh wants me to rank the five best discontinued fast food items.

1. Priazzo, Pizza Hut
2. Double Down, KFC
3. Double Decker Taco, Taco Bell (Not to be confused with the Double Stack Taco)
4. Fried McDonald’s apple pie
5. Hardee’s fried chicken

The post Dear Andy: Will Deion Sanders be at Colorado much longer? appeared first on On3 .