Deion Sanders’ Health Becomes Powerful Colorado Storyline This Fall

After the 2025 season, when the Colorado Buffaloes struggled to find consistent success, coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes appear to be ready for a much better showing in 2026.

While the roster changes through the transfer portal and position battles have been key storylines, there is another headline off the field that could have a major impact on Colorado’s performance next season. Coach Prime's health is a powerful storyline in Boulder this fall.

Deion Sanders’ Health

Colorado coach Deion Sanders has exemplified toughness throughout an intensive health battle, that has recently heated up during his time in Boulder. He had a procedure a few months ago, and he has stated that his health is in a good place and he's ready for the 2026 season.

Throughout his life, Sanders has battled a variety of health issues, including blood clots and bladder cancer.

With the blood clots, Sanders had two of his toes amputated on his left foot, and later, a minor procedure to readdress the blood clots earlier this year in March.

For the bladder cancer, Coach Prime had his bladder removed and underwent surgery for a new bladder, and now he is cancer-free. Following the removal of Sanders’ bladder, he had a neobladder made out of his small intestine, which required constant access to a restroom. With that in mind, Colorado added a portable restroom in a tent on the sideline for Coach Prime during home games.

With these health concerns, many coaches would have decided to call it a career, but not coach Sanders. Throughout Sanders’ playing career and the rest of his life, he has been able to respond to adversity and push through pain like very few can. Coach Prime also deeply cares for his team and wants to help develop his players beyond the field.

Sanders has made some changes to the coaching staff, which may have helped him to delegate more with leaders like offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, defensive coordinator Chris Marve, and tight ends coach Josh Niblett on the staff.

With the leaders that Colorado now has across the coaching staff, the Buffaloes have people aside from Sanders who can motivate the team and help motivate the team when they need it most.

As Colorado heads into 2026, Marion will have the task of developing one crucial player who could go a long way in determining how the Buffaloes' season goes in 2026.

Quarterback Julian Lewis

Without question, one of the more important players for Colorado in 2026 is redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Lewis, who projects to be the starter next season. In 2025, Lewis showed flashes of being able to produce, but with inconsistencies across the entire roster, it became quite difficult for him to find success on a consistent basis.

In Lewis’s 2025 campaign with the Buffaloes, he totaled 589 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and zero interceptions while completing 55.3 percent of his passes. As Lewis prepares for his second collegiate season, the opportunity to be coached by Marion could be very beneficial for his development as a quarterback.

As an offensive playcaller, Marion often puts his quarterback in a position to succeed, wanting to establish a downhill run game and get the ball out quickly to playmakers in space. With the additions Colorado made all across the roster, the run game and the pass game could both take off and create a very explosive offense.

With Lewis’s skill set focusing on getting the ball out quickly, the addition of receivers like Danny Scudero, DeAndre Moore Jr., and Kam Perry should be great for Lewis and allow the Buffaloes to be one of the more consistent offenses in the Big 12.

As Lewis heads into next season, there does seem to be quite a bit of pressure on him, but with the weapons and coaching staff he has around him, he definitely has the opportunity to succeed in a major way during the 2026 season.

Colorado’s Outlook For 2026

With the 2026 season set to begin soon, coach Sanders does have some questions to answer with the lack of consistent success in his time with the Buffaloes thus far.

However, the addition of Marion, Marve, and Niblett to the coaching staff should help both the offense and defense make significant improvements to give Colorado a chance to compete at a much higher level in the Big 12 next season.

If Marion, Marve, and Niblett can take on leadership roles as mentors and help develop the players on the field, coach Sanders and the Buffaloes could be in a great position to shut down the critics for good in 2026.

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