Greg McElroy evaluates realistic expectations for Deion Sanders, Colorado, identifies pressure

Realistic expectations for Deion Sanders and Colorado are tough to measure, but there might be more pressure on them than most realize, says ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

As far as Colorado, the football program, the move to the Big 12 in 2024 shows a future of promise. As does Sanders’ roster transformation and previous success at Jackson State. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

But with the amount of hype rolling into Boulder this fall, McElroy measured how there’s a decent amount of pressure on Sanders to push the right buttons fast at Colorado.

“Right now you would think that the pressure would be a little bit low,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “I however don’t necessarily see it that way because people have already tapped Deion as the savior. He’s the guy that’s going to take what’s been a struggling Colorado program for the better part of the last decade and revitalize what was once a proud and storied program. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. 

“(They went) 1-11 last year and lost seven games by 30-plus points. The reason why the (pressure) number is not a little bit higher is because they were so bad just a year ago, so having marked improvement won’t be that significant.”

Sanders and Colorado pulled in the No. 3 transfer portal class in the 2023 cycle, per the On3 Industry Ranking.

“You think about the roster turnover already, the group collectively is already a lot more talented than they were last year,” McElroy said. “They added 45 players in 45 days at one point, best signing class in 15 years, they had the No. 1 rated transfer class depending on the publication that you use … So there’s a lot to like about what’s been brought in.

“And there’s a lot to like with what Deion Sanders has already accomplished taking over a Jackson State program, won, you know, 18 games in conference, went 23-3 over the course of a couple years. And he generated a ton of buzz with his ability to recruit top tier players.”

Measuring pressure on Deion Sanders, Colorado

McElroy of course referenced Sanders’ job to reel in Travis Hunter the other year, who chose Sanders and Jackson State over Florida State, setting a new precedent about the coach’s ability. 

“Here’s why I think the (pressure) number is just a touch higher than what most people would think,” McElroy said. “Because if for whatever reason there’s not significant improvement, Deion Sanders has already proven it at the FCS level, but every time he stepped on the field in the FCS, he probably had a better roster than the team he was playing against just based on the personnel that was on that roster. 

“So now that he goes to Colorado that’s not going to be the case. If they come out of the gates and go 3-9, will some of the luster wear off of Deion Sanders and the Colorado program? Perhaps.” 

But getting that win total to four, five or even six wins and a bowl game is a fantastic year for Colorado in the eyes of McElroy.

“And that pressure number would go down just a little bit because we’d be able to see and diagnose some of the progress that had been made up to this point,” McElroy said. (But right now), very bullish on Deion Sanders in Colorado and even more bullish now that they’re going to be making their way to the Big 12 here in the coming years.”