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No college football coach in American has received as much flak for their use of the transfer portal as Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders caught heat from media members, fellow coaches, and heck, even myself.
But fast forward to the present and the Buffaloes sit at 7-2. They’re extremely likely to appear in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, and they have an inside track to making the Big 12 championship game. A big reason for that is Colorado’s improved play at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
On Tuesday, Sanders was asked what changed between last year and this year to make for such a start improvement. His answer was matter-of-fact: the players.
Deion Sanders on the difference from this year to last👀👇 pic.twitter.com/EZVGjzm3I7
— Rivals (@Rivals) November 12, 2024
“We changed the roster,” Sanders said in a sarcastic tone. “We flipped the dang roster, remember? Remember all the changes? Yeah, we flipped the roster. That probably has a lot to do with it. We’ve gotten the people that we wanted.
“You guys keep forgetting, we got here in December a couple of years ago, right? That’s kind of tough. Backs was (sp) up against the wall. It was kind of tough. We flipped the darn roster, and I’m proud of ’em.”
Sanders didn’t just “flip the roster” once, but twice. Seven of the nine transfer portal offensive linemen he brought in year one have since left the team. The players he has brought in, either through the portal or recruiting, have helped keep star quarterback Shedeur Sanders upright and given the Buffs at least some semblance of a run game.
Colorado’s roster still has some holes. That much is undeniable, and it’s why the Buffaloes aren’t truly a threat to a national championship. But they’ve taken huge strides from year one to year two, and it’s impossible to ignore the work that Sanders and his coaching staff have done to get to this point.