After Dorrell’s eviction, the search for the Buffs’ new leader began. With rumors spreading that Former NFL and MLB player, Deion Sanders was in the running for the new position, Fans were excited and hopeful for the future of Colorado football.
The hype surrounding Coach “Prime” was unlike any other coach in sports EVER. The University of Colorado hired him to be the new head coach before they even had the money for his 29.5 million-dollar salary. Still, they were confident that their donors would step up, and Coach Prime himself would bring in plenty of money to pay for his salary.
Boy were they correct, by April, season tickets for the Buffs sold out for the first time since 1996, and a Record amount of donations (28 Million) Poured into the Buff Club.
On September 19th, The University announced that for the first time since 1996, The entire season had sold out. The entire CU Fanbase had a renewed hope that Prime would change the team for the better, but did he?
Prime’s controversial first mission as new head coach was to weed out the weak links. Prime told players, “We’re going to try to make you quit,” and to go into the transfer portal if they didn’t want to work.
Following him saying that, 41 Colorado players left, the most athletes to leave in that cycle in the NCAA.
The spring game was an exciting moment for fans, as they got to see a glimpse of what the Buffs’ new Leader was cooking up. The Inter-Squad scrimmage sold out for the first time in the program’s history, with a total attendance of over 45,000 people. The game was the only spring game in the NCAA to be nationally televised.
The new Buffs team started off the season strong, beating TCU who had lost in the CFP National Championship in 2022 45-42, Nebraska their long-time rivals 36-14, and Colorado State 43-35.
After the Buffs strong start, they were ranked at number 18 in the country, after not being ranked since 2020.
The Buff’s’ success was short-lived though, losing to Oregon in week 4, 6-42, and USC in week 5, 41-48. The team won their final game of the season in week 6, Beating Arizona State 27-24, they then lost the following 6 games.
The season wasn’t as bad as the numbers look though, with a majority of the losses resulting from one or two touchdowns.
Prime is focusing on recruiting during the offseason. The teams biggest problem was the offensive line, the Buffs O-Line gave up a total of 54 Sacks during the season, causing starting quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, to get injured multiple times and to not be able to perform to his full potential.
Prime’s solution to the massive amount of sacks allowed? Replacing his O-Line. After the 26-16 loss to UCLA, when 7 sacks were allowed, Prime stated his solution: “Get new lineman. That’s the picture and I’ma paint it perfectly.”
Despite his O-Line not protecting him, Sheduer still managed to pass for 3,230 yards, and 27 touchdowns, as well as rushing for 4 touchdowns.
With rumors of Prime leaving Colorado to take the open Texas A&M job, recruits are nervous to commit. As of November 28th, the Buffs only have nine 2024 athletes committed when most large schools like CU, have 15-20 athletes committed already.
Although the low amount of commitments is concerning, Prime was quick to shut down the rumors of leaving Colorado when he said, “I am here. I am here. My mother is here, my sister is here, my dog is here, my daughter is here, three of my sons are here and my other daughter comes out for the home games, I get mail here. Pay taxes here. I’m here.”
Although the season wasn’t a great one, Coach Prime still brought the teams winning record up 400%, as well as viewership is up according to Nielson, 626%. As well as making the school money, and bringing in viewership to the program, Coach Prime also brought in his positive, yet intense attitude.
Prime makes sure to make a connection with his players, Before every game he goes around the field and acknowledges every player on his team. The question still stands, was Coach Prime worth it?
Coach Prime brought an excitement that Boulder has not seen in years, brought athletes and students that the school would not have had without him, and brought in millions of dollars to the school. Yes, It really is Prime time.
Didi • Dec 28, 2023 at 1:39 pm
Sounds negative towards the players to me good for them leaving! He set them up to leave he’s the blame! Negative attitude gets negative results! Very unfortunate! And then the players who were going to commit are going elsewhere I can’t blame them! I wish him well!