Deion Sanders, 1-0, leaned into the microphone and read the receipts he’d been keeping since January when he took over the head coaching position at the University of Colorado. 

“Do you believe now?! I read through that bulljunk you wrote,” said Deion Sanders. “Do you believe, you don’t believe, you just answered it.” 

They called his overhaul of the Buff’s squad unorthodox, which was 1-11 the previous season and lost by an average of 20 points a game. Critics said Shedeur Sanders wouldn’t produce in the Power 5. The national media’s barrage of disparaging comments energized Coach Sanders and CU and it showed on Saturday. 

Colorado, 20.5-point underdogs, silenced the naysayers when they came into Fort Worth and defeated TCU, the runners-up to the national championship last season. With three wide receivers posting 100+ receiving yards in Travis Hunter, Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr., and true freshman running back Dylan Edwards posting 100+ receiving yards, which is a first in CU history. Shedeur Sanders exploded for 510 yards and four touchdowns in his first game. 

It was nothing less than a statement win for CU but equivocal to Coach Prime’s so-called unorthodox ways of reviving a dormant football team. The hype train isn’t stopping anytime soon. 

Did we expect anything different when it comes to Sanders, coined Primetime, as a multi-sport athlete in the NFL and MLB? It was Deion’s double. He’s never been afraid to speak his mind and stand out from the crowd, and he’s taken heat for doing so. 

He’s never been your archetype player or head coach, but that’s the brand he’s created and is doing so for Buffalo football. The Buffs are unconventional, but the ever-changing landscape of college sports is unprecedented. To conference realignments sweeping the nation and the ever-revolving door of the transfer portal, CU represents the future. And it shows. With 86 new players entering the program, which is bound for the Big 12 in 2024, Deion Sanders and the Buffs are a step ahead of the competition in the progressing flow of college sports.  

Younger generations resonate with Sanders. He’s not your buttoned-up coach like Nick Saban or Kirby Smart and does things differently than others. There are no captains on CU, but leaders and “dawgs.” Moreover, people can’t accept the future of college sports, and in doing so, Deion Sanders has become their scapegoat of critics who can’t fathom what lies ahead. 

Is Colorado a legitimate threat in the Pac-12? Time will tell, and that debate will rage on, as the more they win. But foremost, and firstly, Colorado’s brand and style of football is here to stay. So here’s my question for you: Do you believe?