ESPN analyst shares major concern after hiring of Deion Sanders at Colorado

Colorado has made plenty of noise already since the hiring of Deion Sanders as head coach, but at least one prominent ESPN analyst is concerned that the hype might get ahead of the results going forward.

Greg McElroy discussed the topic of Sanders’ arrival on the ESPN College Football YouTube channel, highlighting some potential concerns.

“I’m very excited. Very, very excited about what they have,” McElroy said. “For instance, they go out and get the top corner in high school football that’s going to be playing and likely starting Day 1 in college football. He’s still a true freshman. He’s still a true freshman.

“There’s growing pains, and there’s going to be growing pains occasionally when there is a transition. So while I’m optimistic about what Deion’s doing, I just hope people don’t think that the progress is stalled if he goes out and has a substandard season as far as wins and losses are concerned.”

In making his larger point, McElroy essentially outlined that the expectations can get a little out of whack with the reality of the situation.

Expectations could prove burdensome at Colorado

The reality is that Colorado won only one game last year. There’s a whole lot to fix.

“I’ll tell you what it is. You know who ruins it for everybody?” McElroy asked. “Josh Heupel, Sonny Dykes. Like, ‘Oh hey, change the coach, the head coach was the problem. It wasn’t the players. The head coach is the problem, we’re going to bring in this new guy, he’s going to jump-start the engine and all the sudden we’re off to the races to 10 wins every single year.’ It just doesn’t happen that way.

“Colorado has been a very difficult destination for a really long time, and there has consistently been decent back-and-forth, ‘Oh we’re going to invest and put the resources into the program that you need to be successful,’ and then they come back and say, ‘No, no, no, nevermind, we’re not going to do it now.'”

McElroy did seem pleased Colorado appears willing to invest in the program now, something he said has been promised in the past but not always delivered on.

“You look at where Colorado is, not a ton of in-state talent, so you need to make sure you go out and have a forward-facing coach that everyone wants to go play for,” he said. “They did that. I think that they’re going to invest in the program. It feels like they’re going to be a player in NIL.”

Hiring of Deion Sanders is a start, but it’s a long road

The hiring of Deion Sanders alone won’t fix Colorado’s issues. But if the Buffaloes build smartly around him, things can certainly take a turn for the positive.

That’s what McElroy is interested to see. Will promises about investing in the program turn into reality or are they wishful promises only? Morever, if things are bumpy early on, will Colorado hold on until the flight hits smoother skies?

“It just feels like all the right steps have been taken,” McElroy said. “You can make all the right steps, but there’s still a possibility that you go out there in what is an improved league from top to bottom and you go 4-8. It doesn’t mean that the program’s not better. It doesn’t mean that they’re not making improvements. But it means that there are stepping stones that you need to take as a program in order to get to a little more consistent relevance.

“I think that right now some of the buzz around Colorado, some of the buzz is a little premature.”