$54 million head coach receives 'C+' coaching grade after college football season

The 2025 college football season is nearly two weeks in the rearview mirror. Just under seven months lie between the end of January and the first weekend of the 2026 college football season.

The end of every college football season brings about a time of reflection on the action that played out over the previous five months. Chip Patterson of CBS Sports released grades for third-year college football coaches in 2025 on Friday. Patterson gave Colorado head coach Deion Sanders a C+ after the season he put together.

"The Buffs cashed in on the influx of talent that arrived with Sanders in the form of a 9-win season in 2024 that saw the team finished tied for first place in the Big 12 standings and ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll," Patterson wrote.

"However, the four-win and three-win seasons that sandwich that peak (both include 1-8 records in conference play) leave the three-year grade somewhat middling with plenty of intrigue into bounce back potential in 2026."

Deion Sanders during Colorado's game against Iowa State. — Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against Iowa State | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The NFL Hall of Famer made his way into the FBS head coaching ranks after three seasons at Jackson State. The Tigers were 23-3 in Sanders' last two seasons, a record accumulated with Sanders' son, Shedeur Sanders, at quarterback and Travis Hunter Jr. at wide receiver and cornerback.

Colorado brought tons of national attention to its football program when Sanders accepted a head coaching job and brought the duo of Shedeur Sanders and Hunter along with him. The Buffaloes finished with losing records in five of the previous six seasons, the last of which was a 1-11 mark under Karl Dorrell.

The Buffaloes stormed out of the gate with a win in each of their first three games, including a road victory against 2022 College Football Playoff runner-up TCU. The momentum fizzled once Pac-12 play began as Colorado won just one conference game in 2023, finishing the season 4-8.

As Patterson mentioned, Colorado's nine-win season, along with Hunter's Heisman Trophy in 2024, brought the Buffaloes a level of success they had seldom seen in the previous 20 seasons. However, Hunter and Shedeur Sanders' departure gave way to a 3-9 finish in 2025. Unlike 2023, the Buffaloes did not have a pair of exciting non-conference wins to inject momentum for the road ahead.

The C+ grade put Sanders at the fourth-highest grade of Power Four coaches after three seasons. Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State), Brent Key (Georgia Tech) and Jeff Brohm (Louisville) all received an A from Patterson. Matt Rhule (Nebraska), Scott Satterfield (Cincinnati), Luke Fickell (Wisconsin) and Hugh Freeze (Auburn) all received lower grades, the last of which received an F.