Prime's peak era was short: Why we're witnessing the beginning of the end for Deion Sanders at Colorado (Part 2)

Editor's note: This is part two of a six-part series entitled "Why we're witnessing the beginning of the end for Deion Sanders at Colorado. Here's the preceding part 1.

The Colorado Buffaloes finished 2024 with a 9-4 record. An incredible improvement over the previous 4-8 record. A cancer diagnosis and recovery essentially derailed 2025. Overall, Coach Prime was given a pass in 2025 considering all he went through in his personal life that year. 2025 was objectively bad. A 3-9 record that somehow looked worse than the record would indicate. Even the three wins didn’t make sense. Beating Delaware and Wyoming does not move the needle. Beating the only nationally ranked Big 12 team in his tenure was perplexing.

Seven of their 12 games were bad losses by two scores or more. Including a stretch against Utah, Arizona, West Virginia and Arizona State that Colorado lost by a combined margin of 176-63. Inside the program, the responses became stale, and the coaching staff struggled to force any change. With bad loss after bad loss ending the same. In the 2026 offseason, Sanders executed a complete philosophical change that was ill-advised at best.

In the 2026 offseason, the Buffaloes, for the third time in four years, completely rebuilt the roster. This time the motivations were different. A sense that big money players shrunk in big moments led to a move away from highly rated talent and big money earners. Every noteworthy 4-and-5-star player was gone and replaced with lower level ‘hungrier’ players. Which came after the acknowledgment of a $27M deficit following record-breaking revenues.

Through five games in 2026, the story is more of the same. Unrealized promises, inconsistent play and a locker room that feels like it is close to breaking. The Georgia Tech game breathed new life into a fanbase that was running out of reasons to believe. For the first time, a Coach Prime-led team dominated a perceived better team by controlling the line of scrimmage and the run game. That good feeling didn’t last long.

Colorado beat FCS team Weber State 52-17 and the post-game press conference felt like a funeral. Focus and discipline issues created a win that should have been wider. Everything since then has been 2025 bad. Including a 29-7 loss to Texas Tech that included a 7-3 Colorado lead for most of the game. “It was a great game until 7:10 in the 4th quarter,” Sanders said after the game. “Then all hell breaks loose.” Which could describe half of the games in his tenure.

Check out the rest of the series with part three.

Shilo Sanders bankruptcy trial: Day 1 from inside the courtroom

Colorado football reportedly spending $20 million for 2026 roster

Tempers flare in Shilo Sanders bankruptcy trial: Day 2 

John Darjean takes the stand in Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy trial: Day 3