Deion Sanders opens new season at Colorado after another roster flip

BOULDER, Colo. − Deion Sanders has doubled down on his big bet with the Buffaloes.

Last year in his first season as Colorado’s football coach, he cleaned house to shake up the program, overhauling the roster by bringing in 68 new scholarship players, including 47 who transferred in from other four-year colleges. This year, he flipped the roster again – with 50 new scholarship players, including 39 new transfers.

But will his second team overhaul strategy work better this time after finishing with a 4-8 record last season?  

Here are three reasons the Buffaloes will be much better in Sanders’ second season in Boulder – and three reasons they might fall short.

Colorado opens the season here at Folsom Field Thursday against North Dakota State (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Reason for success No. 1: The defense is better. 

Sanders has been raving about his depth on defense, especially up front.  Of the 39 new scholarship transfer players, 14 are defensive linemen or linebackers, helping transform a defense that ranked 130th out of 133 major college teams last year with yards per game allowed (453.3).

“I think we’re looking at seven, eight guys on defense that will probably be pros at the conclusion of the season,” Deion Sanders told reporters this month, noting that he gets regular feedback from NFL scouts.

That new beef in the box includes Arizona State transfer defensive end BJ Green and Pittsburgh transfer defensive end Dayon Hayes. Both will be part of an aggressive new scheme under new defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, a former assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We’ve got every style of rusher here man, so it’s going to be very scary for the offenses,” Hayes said recently. “They can’t beat it. Everybody got something different to bring so I love it.”

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Reason for success No. 2: Legitimate stars

Only two Colorado players have replica jerseys on sale at the campus bookstore (for $110 each) − quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback-receiver Travis Hunter. Both could be first-round NFL draft picks next April. Both also have attracted major endorsement deals, including a new deal with Nike for Shedeur, who set a school record last year with 3,230 passing yards.

This will be the last college season Deion Sanders will coach both of his sons — Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, a safety who led the team in tackles in 2023.

The two brothers see it as a simple matter of progression.

“Look at what we had last year,” Shilo Sanders said in July. “Look at how close most of the games was. And look at who we’ve got now. Big difference.”

Last year, the Buffs lost five of their eight games by seven points or fewer. This year, they’ve shored up their weak spots to bridge that gap, including the running game, which ranked as the worst in major college football in 2023 with just 68.9 yards per game. Running back Dallan Hayden since has transferred in from Ohio State with three years of eligibility remaining.

Reason for success No. 3: Better blocking

The offensive line was the biggest problem to fix after last season, when the Buffs surrendered the second-most quarterback sacks in the nation (56). The beatings took a toll on Shedeur Sanders, who took painkillers at times to prop himself up and finished the season with a fractured back.

But none of the starting linemen who finished the season last year are on the team this year. They’ve since been replaced by transfers, promising holdovers and Jordan Seaton, the No. 1 offensive line recruit in the nation.

They should be better, if only because they can’t get much worse, though questions remain about depth beyond the starting five.  Seaton also needs seasoning to build up his toughness, new offensive line coach Phil Loadholt said recently.

“I feel good about six, seven, maybe eight right now,” Loadholt said. “We’re trying to get that to 10.”

Reason for concern No. 1: Chemistry after roster flip

Deion Sanders previously has questioned the value and meaning of “culture” and “chemistry” on a football team.

But in the Buffaloes’ case last year, it’s arguable that the team could have done much better if they had more of both – a killer instinct to avoid letdowns while knowing how to push each other to get the job done.

For example, why did the Buffs blow a 29-0 halftime lead last year in a 46-43 defeat against Stanford? And why did they fail to regain their magic after starting the season last year 3-0?

Both freefalls at least partly could have been due to the fact that his team was full of so many new players with no prior experience working together. Out of a roster limit of 85 scholarship players, last year’s team only had nine players who played at Colorado in 2022.

And now Sanders has turned over the roster again. USA TODAY Sports counted at least 36 players who left the team since last year and still had college eligibility remaining.  Of those 36 departures, 31 were recruits signed by Sanders since his arrival in December 2022. Only 28 scholarship players return from last year’s team.

Reason for concern No. 2: Too much on one guy?

Shedeur Sanders is Colorado’s best quarterback since Kordell Stewart in 1994 – a generational star who also likely will be Colorado’s first quarterback selected in the NFL draft since Koy Detmer in 1997. The Buffs can’t afford to see him get knocked out of games again.  It’s also not even clear who his heir apparent is at quarterback in 2025, in part because Colorado put so many eggs in Shedeur’s basket in 2023 and 2024.

Last year, those eggs eventually fell and cracked. He played with pain last year down the stretch and sat out the final game of the season at Utah, where freshman Ryan Staub started in his place before losing, 23-17. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Monday that Staub is the “solid” No. 2 QB right now.

Reason for concern No. 3: Tough start

Last year, they started 3-0 with wins at TCU, at home against Nebraska and at home against Colorado State. This year after opening against the Bison Thursday, those two rivalry games against Nebraska and Colorado State are on the road, where the Buffs will be villainized in hostile prime-time environments on NBC and CBS.

If they start 1-2 or 0-3, they’ll have to do the opposite as last year and rally down the stretch to make a bowl game in the Big 12 Conference. Does this team have the fortitude to do that with so many new players playing together for the first time?

It likely won’t be easy Thursday against the Bison, either, even though a warm, energetic atmosphere is expected at Folsom Field after CU students started class this week . North Dakota State plays in the lower Football Championship Subdivision of college football but is usually a national contender at that level and last year finished in the semifinals at 11-4.

“We’ve got to strap it up,” Livingston said. “We’re expecting a knock-down, drag-out fight.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com