Setting expectations for Deion Sanders, Colorado football in 2024 - ESPN

A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece about how college football might be vulnerable to a usurper, a new power that takes advantage of the new developments of the day — namely, allowing athletes to transfer more freely and make money off of their name, image and likeness (NIL) — to rise to or near the top of the sport. It seemed the sport might be capable of producing a new Miami or Florida State, programs that rose to usurper prominence in a changing television environment in the 1980s.

One of the main characters in that piece was Jackson State coach Deion Sanders. As a player he was a major factor in FSU's rise, and as a coach he had recently convinced Travis Hunter, the No. 2 prospect in the country, to attend JSU. Sanders was attracting far more talent to Jackson than one would have thought conceivable. It was fun to envision what might happen if he continued to build a powerhouse at Jackson State, and it was intriguing to think about what he might be capable of at a power-conference school.

About 20 months after he left JSU for Colorado, Sanders remains a disruptor. He has eschewed any norm he can find. He openly cleansed the roster he inherited in Boulder to bring in more than 90 transfers in two recruiting cycles. His players displayed their social media handles on the back of their jerseys for a 2023 scrimmage. He delights in holding grudges against local and national media who don't fawn appropriately. And when his Buffaloes began the 2023 season a surprising 3-0, he used his fame to attract mega celebrities to Boulder.

The first month of the 2023 season was The Colorado Show. The Buffaloes rose into the AP top 20 for the first time in half a decade following a 3-0 start. People couldn't decide whether to name