Paul Finebaum, Stephen A Smith debate impact of Deion Sanders' success in Year 2 at Colorado

Colorado enters the college football season once again as one of the most talked about teams in the country ahead of the program’s second season under head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders brought an unprecedented amount of attention and spotlight to the program last season and this offseason.

Because of that, college football analyst Paul Finebaum tabbed Sanders and the Buffaloes as one of the three biggest storylines he’s looking forward to keeping an eye on this college football season. Explaining his logic on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday morning.

“I think it’s all about Coach Prime, can he do an encore?” Finebaum asked. “Listen, the season was a bust, the second half of the season. The first half had a lot of energy and it had a lot of energy because of people like Stephen A. Smith showing up, giving love, and making that program relevant. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they won the first couple of games, not against great competition, but they did it on a big stage.”

Sanders led Colorado to a 4-8 record last season after inheriting a program that had just one win to its name in the 2022 season. Highlighted by a 3-0 start to the season that featured well-documented wins over TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State.

Many are hopeful in Boulder that Sanders can continue to lead the Buffs in the right direction this upcoming season, but clearly, Finebaum is not one of those people.

“But Stephen A., I don’t think anything’s going to happen this year, other than just a lot of white noise coming out of Boulder, Colorado,” Finebaum said. “I think Coach Prime’s already had a rough offseason. He snapped back at the reporters, I know you’ve dealt with that, and I’m not looking to re-litigate some of the reasons why. But I just think it’s going to be a tough sell for the for the nation, as we get ready for a playoff where so many other schools are involved, to waste a lot of time. And I really mean that, waste time on Coach Prime.

“He’s Hollywood, it’s sizzle, he’s done a remarkable job of getting attention. But really, that’s about it, there are a lot of question marks out there. Is he really a great coach? Or is he simply just a showman?”

Smith disagreed with Finebaum’s remarks, bringing up Colorado’s deficiencies as a team last season that they’ll look to improve upon this upcoming season with hopes of winning at a higher clip.

“I don’t think he’s just a showman, I think that he knows what he’s doing,” Smith said. “I just don’t think he has the horses to get it done. I know one of the priorities that he was going to focus on was really buffering that offensive line. Not just to protect his son, who’s a star quarterback for the team, but to also be able to run the football, you need some beef out there when you play in college football against these brothers that he’s gonna go against.”

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was the most sacked quarterback in the country last season and the Buffaloes’ offense at large ranked last in the FBS in rushing. Not to mention a bottom 15 scoring defense in the nation.

But improvement in those areas gives Smith hope that Finebaum will have to eat his words and potentially watch an improved Colorado team this upcoming season. Which he believes could potentially have a major impact that goes beyond the football field.

“I don’t consider him a showman and I’m going to tell you why Paul. I think it’s important that he has some level of success, the showmanship that we’re talking about here. I would love to see more African Americans coaching in college football and I think that if he goes about the business of garnering any level of success, I think it’s going to open the doors of opportunities for others to come down the pipe ultimately to get their shot and get their opportunities” Smith explained.

“That’s why I think it’s important for him to have a modicum of success. I don’t think it’ll be more than that, but I think it’s possible for him to pull off a modicum success compared to last year.”