Emmanuel Acho isn’t having the Deion Sanders hot takes, and frankly, he shouldn’t be. In response to a post questioning whether Colorado should move on from Coach Prime, the former Texas linebacker and current analyst fired back with a sharp reality check: “This is dumb. Colorado has had one coach in 20 years who has produced a three-year stretch better than Deion Sanders. Do the Buffaloes need to improve? Absolutely. But to fire (arguably) the best coach the program has had in 20 years is ludicrous.”
The statement came after FanDuel Sportsbook posted a graphic calling into question Sanders’ tenure at Colorado, citing a 16-19 record, one winning season, and a 2-8 mark against ranked teams. On its face, the numbers don’t scream success. But context matters, and that’s exactly what Acho brought to the table.
Colorado was dead in the water before Sanders got to Boulder. The program had cycled through failed hire after failed hire, bottoming out at 1-11 before Prime took over. In his first season, he brought in one of the most ambitious transfer classes in modern college football, delivered three times the win total of the previous year, and turned the Buffaloes into a national storyline overnight.
Is the rebuild complete? Not even close. Colorado still has work to do along the offensive line. They still have depth issues, and they’ve yet to prove they can win consistently against top competition. But none of that justifies the conversation around moving on from Sanders after less than three full seasons.
Acho hit the point dead-on. In the past two decades, Colorado has been defined by mediocrity and irrelevance. Now they’re on national broadcasts, drawing top-tier recruits, and competing in the Big 12 with one of the most visible coaches in the sport. You can question some of Sanders’ decisions. You can question the staff. But questioning his place as the best coach Colorado has had in 20 years is just nonsense.
This isn’t just about Deion. It’s about a program that finally has an identity and, for the first time in a long time, a future worth talking about. That’s not the kind of thing you blow up over a record. It’s the kind of thing you build on.
