Deion Sanders Opens Up On Colorado's Massive Transfer Class

Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders went on ESPN First Take live from San Francisco during Super Bowl week. It was a disappointing 2025 season for the Buffaloes as they finished with a record of 3-9 overall and 1-8 in Big 12 Conference.

“Coach Prime” seems confident in his team’s ability to turn it around in 2026.

Deion Sanders on Colorado: "We Going To Get That Right"

Colorado Buffaloes Deion Sanders Coach Prime Transfer Portal Class Super Bowl LX San Francisco ESPN First Take 2026 Season — Oct 11, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the first quarter against the Iowa State Cyclones at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Deion Sanders was in San Francisco for Super Bowl week as the football world awaits the Super Bowl LX matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots on Sunday, Feb. 8. On ESPN First Take, Sanders admitted that it was a tough year for the Sanders family.

“It was a tough year for the Sanders’. Getting our butts kicked in Colorado. We going to get that right. I promise you that,” Sanders said. “We going to get that right. We’ve gotten that with what we did in this portal.”

Coach Prime with a message to Colorado Fans 👀🔥

“We going to get that right, I Promise you that”

🎥 : @espn

pic.twitter.com/OhDKnABQDA
— We Coming 🦬 (@SkoBuffsGoBuffs) February 6, 2026

Off the heels of a 3-9 season, the Buffalos hit the transfer portal hard. Colorado has 43 incoming transfers for the 2026 season that “Coach Prime” is excited about. Among these incoming players are three four-star transfers per 247Sports: former Texas Longhorns linebacker Liona Lefau, former Texas Longhorns wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr., and former Tennessee Volunteers safety Boo Carter.

These players will need to be immediate contributors if Colorado is to turn around their fortunes quickly.

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2025 Season Struggles

There were many places where things went wrong for the Buffs in 2025. For starters, they lost arguably their two best players from the nine-win 2024 season in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

In 2024, Shedeur won the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, throwing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns. Hunter won the 2024 Heisman Trophy for his elite two-way skillset. On offense as a wide receiver, Hunter had 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns. On defense as a cornerback, he had 36 total tackles, four interceptions, 11 passes defended, and one forced fumble.

Both players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Colorado was unable to fill the void left by them, especially at the quarterback position. Liberty Flames quarterback Kaidon Salter transferred to Colorado after four seasons at Liberty. He could never quite find a rhythm in the Colorado offense.

Deion tried to mix and match different quarterbacks but nothing really stuck. After just a few games, Salter was benched for backup quarterback Ryan Staub. Staub started just one game before "Coach Prime" made the move back to Salter.

Salter had moments during this stretch, but was eventually benched again, this time for freshman quarterback Julian Lewis. Lewis had flashes of brilliance toward the end of the year, making him the front runner to be the Buffs 2026 starter.