As Colorado fans know, Deion Sanders was all anyone could talk about in 2024. The father shaped and built Shedeur into what many believed would be a first-round pick. However, since the 2025 NFL draft, things have taken a turn for the family. Without Shedeur, Deion slipped from a 9-4 upward trajectory in 2024 to a 3-9 free fall in 2025.
That hasn’t damaged Sanders’ confidence going into his fourth year with the franchise. In a statement made via ESPN’s Pete Thamel in a post on July 7, Sanders claimed his 3-9 finish has already reversed course.
“It’s already turned,” he said. “You just ain’t seen the fruit. It’s already there. … Let’s not talk about tomorrow. We got today at hand. Yeah. I’m going to focus on it now. When I’m [at] my best, I focus on it now, and I dominate the now. Then I deal with the next day.”
Fans didn’t buy Sanders’ confident statement, jumping at the chance to knock him down a peg.
More fans reacted negatively, with one calling for 2026 to be his final season with the Colorado Buffaloes if things don’t turn around quickly.
Regardless of how long the leash is on Sanders, no head coach can make a career out of losing forever. Losing Shedeur was a logical explanation for a slump, but after receiving a year to find and develop his successor, the window for winning long-term belief could be at risk.
Assessing Potential Post-Colorado Options For Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders has every reason to give the 2026 season his best. However, if things don’t work out this year, Sanders will have led a losing team in three of four seasons. In the college football world, it will be tough to get a chance after that.
Sanders will be 60 years old heading into the 2027 college football season, and after coaching his sons, he might feel like he has done all he needed to do as a coach. As such, retirement could be on the cards.
However, Sanders appears to have plenty of energy and desire to keep working, so a couple of avenues make sense if he wants to continue. If Shedeur Sanders sticks with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL and Todd Monken turns out to be a one-and-done coach or has an opening for his quarterback coach position, the Browns would have reason to give the Sanders duo one run before the team goes all-in on a complete rebuild.
Another option would be for Sanders to rejoin the media as a talk show guest or host. As evidenced here, he can still drop a quote that gets attention and has plenty of fame to draw on.
However, as Sanders said, his focus is on today, not tomorrow, for now.
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