Deion Sanders has been in the spotlight since he was in college at Florida State. Before him, cornerbacks were never considered cool. He made the position dope through the sheer power of his personality and being far ahead of his time when it came to using the media to his advantage. He might not have written the book on being savvy, but he contributed more than a few chapters. He knows how to get and maintain attention.
If you want to argue that the media went overboard with Sanders’ first season at Colorado, that’s fair criticism. No 4-8 team in college football history received that amount of coverage. Sanders was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in a decision that was widely mocked. But now, there has been an over-correction. Sanders is being short-changed.
As a coach, he is not receiving nearly enough credit for turning around the Buffaloes. Instead, the media has focused on Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy candidacy (it’s legit) and Sanders as the next Dallas Cowboys coach. (It’s pure speculation.)
Sanders is orchestrating one of the great rebuilding jobs in recent memory. Colorado was 1-11 in 2022 and arguably the nation’s worst power conference program. Today, the 16th-ranked Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1) are tied for first place in the Big 12 along with BYU. They are coming off a 49-24 home victory over preseason conference favorite Utah. They are in the hunt for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Expectations were low. In the preseason poll, Colorado was picked to finish 11th of 16 schools in its first season back in the Big 12 after being in the Pac-12. Some media members seemed to celebrate the Buffaloes’ collapse last season after their surprising 3-0 start. Call it overexposure if you want. Sanders was the face of college football in early September 2023. His image was everywhere, and everybody was talking about how he microwaved success by aggressively using the transfer portal to revamp the roster. But when the team struggled, then came the inevitable criticism of his roster-building technique.
In the off-season, the coverage continued to focus on the negative. Part of that was Sanders’ fault. He has feuded with media members and former Colorado players. Sanders is not a typical coach. That’s sometimes refreshing. That also can be problematic. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Sanders, all that matters is how his team performs on the field. With Hunter and his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, leading the way, Deion Sanders deserves more credit and coverage.
So, what has happened?
In short, the national media tends to have a herd mentality. It focuses on a particular story and sticks with it as long as it’s relevant. Indiana is the story of the 2024 college football season, and justifiably so. The possibility of Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers (10-0, 7-0) winning the Big Ten is shocking. The media will remain entrenched in IU’s story as long as this basketball-first school remains in contention for a football playoff berth. That means less coverage devoted to other stories, such as Colorado’s big season. If the Buffaloes keep winning, that will eventually force them back into being a bigger part of the conversation.
There is also another element that might be at play here. There is a belief by some that Sanders isn’t being acknowledged for his acumen. ESPN play-by-play announcer Mark Jones has been a staunch defender of Sanders and has taken issue with CBS Sports’ preseason ranking of Sanders as the second-worst head coach in the Big 12. Even the most hardcore detractor would acknowledge that this ranking looks worse by the day. Question Sanders’ methods all you want, but college sports is a bottom-line business. It often doesn’t matter how you get the results as long as you win.
Sanders doesn’t look like or act like most coaches. College sports are changing rapidly, and Sanders has used those seismic shifts to his advantage. It’s still too early to tell if Sanders’ ways are sustainable long term. But for now, the national media should give him his due. He’s earned it.
