In an offseason marked by roster turnover to the NFL and coach Deion Sanders‘ absence due to undisclosed health concerns, the Colorado Buffaloes football coach is drawing fresh scrutiny.
With “Coach Prime” preparing for his first season without his sons, Colorado’s former star quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, and the leader of the “Headache Gang,” safety Shilo Sanders, on the roster, questions about his long-term commitment to Colorado are beginning to circulate among fans and critics alike.
After finishing the 2024 season with a 9–4 record and tied for first place in the Big 12, the Buffaloes are looking to build on that progress while navigating a significantly retooled roster.
However, Sanders’ recent absence and the program’s last-place standing in the 2026 Big 12 football recruiting rankings, as per 247Sports, coupled with the departure of his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, to the NFL, has fueled speculation about his long-term plans.
Some of the criticism centers on the notion that Sanders has never coached a team without one of his sons on the roster.
Personal quarterback trainer Quincy Avery, who has worked with NFL stars such as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud, weighed in on that topic this week during a radio appearance on the Maggie and Perloff Show.
“My forecast is that at one point this year it’s going to get really difficult, and Deion Sanders is going to have to make a real decision,” Avery said.
“Was he doing this the whole time to prop his son up and help him become this top-tier quarterback—which he did—or does he want to do this because he really cares about the kids? He’s never coached a team in which his son did not play for. This is brand new to him; So we get to see who he is as a person when he has to take on this team without his sons involved.”
“He’s going to really find out if this is something that he truly loves or was he loving it because he got to help out his kids in a real way.”@QuincyAvery on Deion Sanders’ upcoming season.
pic.twitter.com/eUOL685cBr— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) July 1, 2025
However, back in January, during his first team meeting without Shedeur and Shilo, “Coach Prime” expressed genuine gratitude and excitement for the moment and new opportunity.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be standing before you,” Sanders told his team with pride in his voice.
“I can’t explain how happy, and how thoughtful, and how thankful I am for this day… This is the first day I’ve been coaching without my boys, which is a pleasure and honor for me. Now I can just be a coach; I don’t have to be a dad. I like that. I love that.”
Coach Prime’s first team meeting as a Head Coach without Shedeur and Shilo:
“I’ve been praying about this day; Now I could just be a coach and not be a Dad.”
It’s a New Era.
🎥@DeionSandersJr pic.twitter.com/SsXsBkejz1
— GUCCE🦬🐦⬛ (@gucceCU) January 12, 2025
Some fans have also pointed to Sanders’ early comments about recruiting as a sign that conviction may have turned into overconfidence.
Riding high after a big win over Nebraska in 2023, “Coach Prime” told reporters:
“You don’t have to sell Boulder. Boulder sells itself. We’re not selling anything, we’re not promising anything—we’re just giving them the opportunity to earn a tremendous education and a tremendous opportunity to get to the next level, which is the NFL… But it’d be tough to turn us down if I was a recruit—especially if I was a parent.”
That message, once seen as bold and magnetic, has drawn criticism in light of the current recruiting outlook.
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One fan objected on social media posting, “You know how arrogant you gotta be to think kids are gonna come simply because you’re the coach while you put in zero effort smh.”
But Sanders’ message to fans and recruits hasn’t changed.
In fact, following his recent contract extension through 2029, he addressed his future in Colorado directly.
“I told y’all I wasn’t going nowhere. I don’t know why y’all wouldn’t believe me,” Sanders said after the Buffaloes’ spring game in April. “I’d cry to you before I lie to you. I love it here; I adore it here.”
For concerned Buffs fans, the anxiety could soon prove to be completely unfounded.
With a new contract in place and a public reaffirmation of his love for Colorado, Sanders has shown no tangible signs of stepping away.
But as his health improves and he makes his return to the sidelines in Boulder, there’s one surefire way to silence the doubters: win football games.
