It was an unforgettable first season in Boulder for Deion Sanders – and the hordes of fans who jumped on his bandwagon – for a lot of reasons. One thing it wasn’t ever was dull. It was never dull.

The Good, the Bad and the Deion, Mile High Sports December 12, 2022

Strike 2, the Bad: In December of 2022, Sanders gutted the CU roster he inherited, ultimately kicking more than 50 student-athletes straight to the curb. He was bringing, “his own luggage, and it’s Louis (Vuitton)” he told the returning players – and the rest of the world – via social media no less. In most cases, Sanders didn’t even bother to speak to returning players one-on-one, opting to sweep away Colorado student-athletes he deemed unworthy without so much as a how do you do.

After the spring and summer of massive pub, CU got off to that hot 3-0 start, but it became clear that the rebuilt roster wasn’t quite as complete as it appeared early on. As the season wore on, depth issues and inadequate play on both sides of the line of scrimmage began to show. For all the great things he did, including throwing just three interceptions on the season with 28 TD passes, Shedeur led the nation in being sacked – he was clearly holding the ball too long, adverse to throwing it away, reportedly to keep his competition percentage up. He also reportedly needed pain injections to finish games against UCLA and Oregon State before suffering a fracture in his back in a blowout loss at Washington State.

It wasn’t just the poor line play and the sacks. CU finished the year with 107 penalties, second most in the nation behind New Mexico. (Highly penalized Colorado State had 92.) Discipline was a big issue.

The turning point clearly came on Oct. 13, when Pac-12 weak link Stanford visited Folsom Field. Shedeur led the CU offense to 29 first half points, and it appeared the Buffs were well on their way to what would have been a nice 5-2 start, with a few winnable games still remaining on their gauntlet of a schedule. Which Bowl would CU land in?

Like the man says, not so fast my friend.

Stanford’s second half and overtime rally will be impossible for Buff fans to ever forget. While Shedeur was infamously holding an Instagram memorabilia sale during halftime, the Buffs focus vanished. After committing an unthinkable 17 penalties, Shedeur threw the most costly of his three interceptions on the season in OT, and the Cardinal left town with an improbable 46-43 win.

The Buffs never recovered, going winless the rest of the way. That included the ugly 56-14 blowout at Washington State when the head coach appeared to want to be anywhere else rather than in Pullman, Wash. on a frigid Friday night. Body language spoke volumes.

There were serious disconnects that became apparent as the season went on. There were legit questions about how prepared the Buffs were getting during the week, and they were routinely getting out coached during games.

Typically a first-year head coach has something of a grace period, with low expectations coming out of the gate. But with Deion things are very different. He came in at full volume, with big talk about “keeping receipts” that his on-field coaching ended up not backing up. There were several instances of poor game and clock management.

What’s done is done. For Deion/Buff fans, the question is what, if anything, did the head coach and his best players learn from what happened this season? Can next year be substantially different – especially now that CU won’t be sneaking up on the college football world anymore? Expectations (which Deion continues to fuel and then complain about) will be sky high again. Can they do better?

Shedeur, his brother safety Shiloh Sanders and Hunter will all be off to the NFL following their second seasons in Boulder. And while it’s impossible to know about any future coaching destinations for anyone, Deion certainly won’t hesitate to change addresses and school colors if a more lucrative offer comes his way a year from now. He says he wants to retire in Colorado. If you believe that, you might be interested in some beach front property in Nebraska that’s for sale.

Since his days as a baseball player when he went to home plate, took his bat and drew a dollar sign in the batter’s box, Deion has always been that unapologetic “Show me the money” guy. When the Buffs make that bowl game next year, the CU admin is going to find that out the hard way.

Loyal only to his family name, his bank account and his most famous (departing) recruit, Deion will be certain to take next year’s bowl game appearance to the bank.

Probably a bank that’s someplace warm.