Key Takeaways
- Deion Sanders rebuilt Colorado with 43 transfers and new coordinators after a 3-9 season, but the Buffaloes’ early 2026 struggles have ESPN’s Matt Barrie calling his tenure “as good as done.”
- Paul Finebaum said the program’s offensive and defensive changes have failed, predicting Sanders’ run will end “either gracefully or spectacularly badly.”
- Barrie praised Sanders’ player-first impact and said he will not quit, though he suggested Colorado and its coach could eventually reach an “amicable divorce.”
Deion Sanders spent the offseason rebuilding Colorado after a disastrous 3-9 season. Five weeks into the 2026 campaign, ESPN's Matt Barrie and Paul Finebaum are already talking like the Coach Prime era in Boulder is nearing its end.
During the Oct. 4 episode of The Matt Barrie Show, Barrie said everything surrounding Colorado suggests Sanders' tenure has hit a wall.
"It appears that Deion Sanders' run in Colorado has come to a complete and screeching halt," Barrie said. Aside from the season with Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, he added, "that Colorado thing is—that's as good as done. And I don't know that there's any way out of it."
Finebaum didn't push back.
"When the last image of a program's last breath is your quarterback in his own end zone throwing a pick-six, it's over," he said.
Finebaum acknowledged he initially disliked Sanders' move to Colorado, then believed he'd been proven wrong, but now sees a difficult ending ahead.
"It is going to end either gracefully or spectacularly badly for Deion," Finebaum said.
That's a dramatic reversal from where Colorado stood two seasons ago. Sanders followed his attention-grabbing 4-8 debut with a 9-4 season powered by Shedeur and Hunter. But both left for the NFL, and Colorado cratered to 3-9 in 2025.
The Sanders camp understood what 2026 represented. During a June Well Off Media vlog, Deion Sanders Jr. summed up the stakes while discussing Colorado's recruiting push: "We gotta win. Or I'mma be out of a job."
His father responded to the previous season with another aggressive rebuild. Colorado added 43 transfers after 36 players departed, revamped both lines and reworked its secondary. The Buffaloes also changed coordinators, bringing in Brennan Marion to run the offense and Chris Marve on defense.
Finebaum noted that neither move has produced the desired turnaround.
"He brought in a new offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, into the go-go offense. That hasn't worked," Finebaum said. "He's got a new defensive coordinator, Chris Marve. That hasn't worked."
Barrie, however, stressed that Sanders' struggles haven't changed his view of what the Hall of Famer brings to college football. He praised Sanders for allowing players to market themselves while still demanding accountability.
"He puts the players first. He lets them be them. He lets them market themselves," Barrie said, adding that Sanders remains "old school" about work and performance.
The conversation also comes after Sanders' serious health battle. He underwent treatment for bladder cancer in 2025 before returning to Colorado, another factor Finebaum said makes discussing his future more complicated.
Neither Barrie nor Finebaum claimed Sanders would simply walk away. Barrie specifically said, "He's not gonna quit. Like, he's just not wired that way," while raising the possibility of Colorado and Sanders eventually reaching an "amicable divorce."
Finebaum believes Sanders will recognize where things stand.
"He's not going to be caught off guard," Finebaum said. "I think he will look for a strategy and make sure that he preserves his good name."
