Head Coach: Deion Sanders, also known as “Coach Prime” is entering his 3rd season as the head coach of the Buffaloes with a 13-12 record. It’s been a fascinating ride, he transformed the image of the program immediately bringing more attention than it’s had in a long time. He helped them win games on the field too, the program was in awful shape when he took over going 1-11 in 2022 and now they’ve steadily improved to winning 9 games last season. Prime has extremely high aspirations for what this can become and it will be fascinating to see how far they get.
Program Outlook: Colorado has found its place in the sport again. They were the only program to move from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 and quite honestly the decision backfired. They didn’t play their traditional rivals and the Pac-12 itself became a mess, Colorado had their own missteps as a program that snowballed the issue and left the program largely forgotten with constant appearances on the hidden away Pac-12 network. Fast forward to 2025, the Buffs are back in the Big 12 where they belong and love them or hate them everyone knows who they are. Now it will be fascinating to see where they are in the Big 12 pecking order each year.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Colorado ranks 66th in the country returning 55.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. This is because they lost several key players such as Heisman winner Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders, WR Jimmy Horn, and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig along with 7 other starters on the defensive side. Key players starts with the QB position, former 5 star recruit JuJu Lewis comes in with the hype but he’s only 17 years old and may not be ready, as a result Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter might win the job. Salter is an excellent runner which is a new threat for this offense, he had a rough 2024 there was a lot of disconnect between him and his receivers, he looked disengaged overall so it will be worth watching to see how he does. Salter will definitely have much better receivers to work with, Colorado has maintained a very talented and deep receiving core under Deion, this will be no different with Drelon Miller, Omarion Miller, along with some portal guys. The offensive line has continuity for the first time under Prime, Jordan Seaton and Tyler Brown lead the way there. The defense will be led by a loaded Dline, this group might be one of the best in the conference. The secondary will be led by corners D.J. McKinney, Preston Hodge and Carter Stoutmire. The question marks for Colorado begins with the run game, can better continuity along the Oline supplemented by a couple instant impact transfers and a running QB help that out? DeKalon (TRACKHAWK) Taylor from Incarnate Word could add some explosiveness to the room. They need to sort out who will play linebacker with both of their best backers from last year gone. Colorado will need to find out who will play safety as well, indications from the spring show that USF transfer Tawfiq Byrd is ready to fill one spot. Maybe Kansas State transfer Noah King will fill the other?
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Colorado’s schedule is challenging. They get tested right away with a Georgia Tech team that could be one of the best in the ACC. Following that game the non-conference calms down, instead of a bunch of rivalry games Colorado gets Delaware who is in their first FBS season and regional foe Wyoming who is coming off a tough 2024. Colorado’s Big 12 schedule carries such a mix that they don’t have a surefire win or loss, a lot of their easier opponents are on the road and a lot of their tougher ones are at home (seriously they get the 3 teams that finished above them last year all at home). This schedule could prevent Colorado from contender for the Big 12 championship, but it may also make Colorado a massive pest to the top contenders in the conference.
Final Thoughts: 2025 will answer the question we are all wondering. What does a Coach Prime team look like without his sons playing for him? It will be fascinating to find out. In some ways I expect the operation to be more smooth. Overall they lack a Travis Hunter to carry the team but I also believe the talent across the board is better than it’s been in last years in most areas. It feels like this will just be a solid Colorado team that makes a bowl they carry the upside to do a little more but there’s some risk to miss a bowl if the pass game doesn’t click.
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