Pre-Gheorghemas Coach Prime Filler

Funny how the littlest decisions can create connections in ways and places we might never have even contemplated. A year or so ago, a cheerleading coach at the University of Delaware decided that their squad didn't really need my kid. Today, my wife watched the entirety of Deion Sanders' introductory press conference as the head football coach at the University of Colorado. Butterflies in Africa, I give you indifference in Newark.

Also funny how many times things work out how they're supposed to, even if they're not what we thought we wanted. An essay for a different time, perhaps, the parallels between my daughter's collegiate decision-making process and my own. For the moment, let's just note that Boulder suits her down to the elevated ground. And it just got a lot more interesting.

Intercollegiate athletics at CU (not UC, mind you - this is Colorado, not California dontchaknow) are a weird animal. There are more than 33,000 undergraduates in Boulder, yet the school only fields six men's varsity sports (football, basketball, skiing, golf, cross country, and track and field). The women get nine, adding volleyball, soccer, tennis, and lacrosse. As a comparison, little William & Mary, with its 6,500 undergrads, fields a total of 22 varsity squads for women and men. At the same time, CU students are seriously outdoorsy, taking full advantage of the hiking, paddling, mountain biking, and skiing options in their back yard.

It strikes me as a place where athletics are fun, but not as encompassing as I know them to be at other major conference schools. Which is one of the many things that makes the Sanders hire intriguing.

Here's my bottom line: I think it's a good decision by both Sanders and CU, with a couple of pretty important caveats.

From Coach Prime's perspective, it's a move to a Power Five school, one he's certainly earned with his success at Jackson State. The Tigers went 27-5 in two+ seasons with Sanders as coach, just competing a 12-0 2022 campaign with an emphatic SWAC title game win over Southern. One might argue, as Pat Forde convincingly does, that the only reason Sanders didn't get a look from one of the more prominent major conference programs has a lot more to do with his pigmentation than his experience. Hugh Freeze, after all, got a(nother) shot.

It's also a move to a place with expectations that have been ground down by decades of mediocrity. The Buffs have exactly one winning season (excepting the 2020 COVID year) since 2005. The 2022 team finished 1-11, outscored 534-185 (last in America in points against, fifth-to-last in points for), and outgained 509-281 yards/game. It is no stretch to call Colorado the worst Power Five team in the nation.

Deion has very little to lose, and a lot to gain. As he said in his presser, "We’re coming to kill, not to kick it."

As for the Buffs, it's mostly upside there, too, so long as they have a plan. Colorado Athletic Director Rick George is staking his own professional reputation on the move, and in the press conference introducing Sanders on Sunday, he was unequivocal, saying “Everybody said let’s go all in. It’s time to GO ALL IN!” Emphasis entirely his - dude was amped. His future and Coach Prime's are inextricably linked.

I think Sanders will do really well. As noted, he starts with a low bar. He's a proven recruiter already, having convinced national number one recruit Travis Hunter to spurn Florida State for FCS Jackson State. And in fact, in the hours since his formal introduction in Boulder, Sanders signed four-star wideout Winston Watkins, Jr. from Fort Myers, FL. I expect him to get strong interest from kids in the transfer portal, as well. His son Shadeur had two impressive seasons as the starting quarterback at Jackson State and will join his father at CU. The influx of talent alone will be enough to make the Buffs a .500 program in Prime's first season.

And I think Colorado will do really well. As one of the reporters at Sunday's introduction noted, there hasn't been this much buzz around the Buffs' program in decades. My wife, who knows fuck all and cares less about college football, watched the press conference and has been looking for tickets to the 2023 home opener against Nebraska. Deion on campus will give the school an opportunity to build on a solid brand, raise money, and at the very, very least put a scaffolding in place that raises the floor for the next coach.

That right there is where George should be focused. Nobody in Boulder should be thinking that this job Sanders' final stop. If he's got a winning record after two seasons, he'll get looks from the places that should've talked to him this go-round. George should already have a list of coaches who could succeed in Prime's substantial wake - the next guy would need to be thick-skinned, creative, able to recruit, and willing to build on someone else's legacy. And if we're thinking strategically and being honest, he should probably be black - that's kinda what Deion's demanding, just not in so many words. 

Emmanuel Acho has an interesting perspective on that, and a riposte to those who would call Prime a sellout for investing so publicly in the HBCU football experience and then moving to a non-HBCU program:

To those saying Deion Sanders is a sellout, consider this… pic.twitter.com/UqUZRjOwF7

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) December 4, 2022

In the final analysis, I think CU's hiring of Coach Prime will turn out to be a mutually beneficial transaction. As long as the Buffs side of the table understands that it's a transaction, it'll work out for everyone. Prime's coaching journey won't end in Boulder, but if CU plays it right, his stop amidst the Flatirons will go down as a vital turning point.