Paul Finebaum: Deion Sanders is not a celebrity as a coach

There may not be a more recognizable face across the entire college football landscape than Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders. Who’s heading into his second year at the helm of the Buffaloes program following an illustrious career as one of the best football players and charismatic personalities in sports.

With the litany of changes happening across college football, having a star head coach could be advantageous for schools as the competitiveness of the game on and off the field has only increased. But when college football analyst Paul Finebaum recently joined ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’ and discussed that tier of coaches, Sanders was not mentioned.

“First of all, he is a celebrity but he’s not a celebrity as a coach. To me, Deion, it’s all about what he did previously and I think that’s why I give him a lot of credit for calling himself Coach Prime. Because that puts the emphasis on being a coach,” Finebaum said taking a jab at Sanders’ nickname.

“But listen, he is an industry-created coaching celebrity. Cole what happened last year was generational, but it was mostly forced and created, and it was really in many ways illegitimate.”

Colorado went 1-11 in 2022 before Sanders’ arrival, who improved the team’s record to 4-8 last season following an offseason highlighted by a massive overhaul through the transfer portal. And while the Buffs’ record wasn’t necessarily impressive, Sanders’ ability to draw attention to the program was. Breaking a multitude of television viewership and attendance records while also inserting Colorado football regularly into the national dialogue last season.

“He really never beat anyone of consequence, but that didn’t stop us from talking about it and by the way I’m guilty. I was on those shows as you were,” Finebaum said to Cubelic. “But it felt surreal and I’ll never forget being asked, I think Steven A. Smith asked me, on the second week of the season hey, do you think they’re a playoff team? I had a hard time answering with a straight face, because I think he had just been out there and he believed in it. But that was never real.”

This offseason has resembled the last in Boulder with 44 players transferring out of the program and 41 new faces joining the Buffaloes. With Colorado ranking a the top of On3’s College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings for the second consecutive offseason. Also facing the new challenge of joining the Big 12 Conference this upcoming season.

It will be fascinating to see if Colorado can take another step in the right direction during the 2024 season. But maybe it is even more intriguing to see if Sanders’ fame can be leveraged long term in an evolving college football landscape.

“It’s just a matter of being honest, I don’t consider him a great coach at all. He’s a Hollywood created celebrity primarily because what he did in other in other walks of life, namely playing football. But I mean he disappeared for a long time. We didn’t really know what he was up to and quite frankly, his performance as a coach has been less than spectacular,” Finebaum concluded.