Hater’s gonna hate, right? In fact last night one of my boys was talking down about the Deion Sanders led Buffs. Not so oddly enough, it was one of the two that didn’t go to the game last night. All five were invited but only three went. The hate, which not fully formed was a simple comment about how the Buffs are not very good. It was a layered comment about them barely beating what is now a 1-5 ASU football team. Of course, #9 USC barely beat a then 1-3 ASU football team, and the comments about not being very good did not exist. There is a simple truth inherent here: People hate whoever is getting the good press so long as they don’t think that person deserves the good press. Deion is getting all the press, and that makes the haters hate more.
Here are the facts: The Buffs are 4-2 this year with the 2 losses coming against top 10 teams–including a blowout loss to Oregon, who boasts the #1 offense in college football. Colorado boasted 1 win last year–a 20-13 overtime victory against Cal. They were blown out of every other game last year save for an 8 point loss to ASU. You have to reach back to November 2021 to find another win. In fact, there were two wins in 21 and a lot of blowout losses. What this says to me is that the expectations of Sanders team from the outside world match his own (maybe unrealistic) expectations of turning them into a team that challenges for the national championship instantly.
But those are not his expectations. He said from the start that he is building a program from the ground up. He said he’s going to win games and change the culture and all of that has happened thus far. Instead of a team that is hopeful to win one game this season he has brought in a new mentality and is holding everyone accountable. He shed 55 players who were not being held accountable and said that you cannot merely blame the coaches if the kids are trying to bring a winning culture. Instead he brought in a ton of kids who were about the winning culture and recruited a bunch more. Sanders said himself that he needs 6 or 7 more pieces to compete for a national championship. Most teams talk about needing 1 or 2.
Haters gonna hate, but this thing is going somewhere. Fast.