Why Colorado can't afford to fire Deion Sanders this season

The Colorado Buffaloes dropped another game, increasing their losing streak to three.

In back-to-back weeks, they were completely dismantled, but the problem may be more internal than Deion Sanders thinks. The Buffs lost 29-7 to No. 11 Texas Tech at home and showed no signs of improvement after being demolished by Northwestern last Saturday. In the midst of the chaos, coach Prime continues to point fingers rather than provide solutions.

Coach Prime was asked about Julian Lewis being benched after their loss to Texas Tech, and he said, “I would love for JuJu to come here and tell you what happened.”

As the head coach, it is his decision on who plays and who doesn’t, not the player. It is clear Coach Prime is spiraling and has no solutions for another season going off the rails.

"We got one glaring problem," Sanders added. "You guys know what that is. I ain’t no fool. Let’s stop the shenanigans, man. We got to play better at one specific position. That’s it."

If CU’s quarterback play is so bad, who's in charge of developing one that works? Also, the head coaching position is a bigger concern.

The quarterback doesn’t decide clock management or timeouts when the defense is in the game. He also didn't decide not to hire a special teams coordinator. He doesn’t establish the recruiting strategy that keeps him away from doing home visits or letting 40 players hit the portal for a downgrade. Nope, those decisions belong to the face of the program.

CU fans are starting to turn the heat up on Coach Prime, but he's in Boulder to stay. There is no way Sanders would be fired because Colorado can't afford to make a move that big. If CU fires Sanders before Dec. 31, 2026 without cause, he would be owed $26.6 million. That figure goes down every year he's in Boulder. So Sanders isn’t going anywhere. That's the harsh reality of the situation.

Read More: Colorado football's quarterback carousel keeps going round and round 

The Buffs only one winning season under Sanders came in 2024, which ended in a blowout loss to BYU in the Alamo Bowl. But that was with Travis Hunter and his son Sheduer Sanders. Any recruits Sanders and his staff bring either enter the portal, and he looks for an issue and benches them. In today’s college football, benching a player ultimately means losing them to the portal. Ever since the exit of Sanders and Hunter, Colorado has failed to stay relevant and win more than four games.

They are 2-3 and winless in the Big 12. There are no signs of a turnaround, and the answer is clear as day. When things go wrong, Coach Prime will point fingers at everyone but himself. That is no sign of a good head coach because any problem should be handled from inside to out. His time is out, he must win now or Colorado will start looking for other options.

The Buffs have a bye week and look to recuperate and pick up the pieces as they have a tough test at home against a challenging No. 12 Utah on Saturday, October 17.

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