​Deion Sanders built the Colorado Buffaloes on bold declarations, and for a time the program rode those high expectations to momentum and attention. But the rough 2025 season left fans and analysts questioning the direction of the team. Into that conversation stepped former NFL MVP Cam Newton, offering some pointed guidance. On the 4th&1 podcast, Newton said, “If you’re asking me, I would love to see Prime take a step back from head coaching and oversee a program. Not as an athletic director, but a GM focused specifically on football.” He went on to add, “I’m in fear of the day-to-day responsibility. I don’t think that’s in his strong suit right now, especially in this situation that he’s in.”
The Buffaloes have been trying to reclaim prominence after finishing last season with an embarrassing 3-9 record. The situation was compounded by Prime’s own health scare, as he stepped away for several months after a bladder cancer diagnosis. Yet the season’s overall performance left the program without the star power it had leaned on in preceding years. The 2024 season did yield a 9-4 record, but that success was driven by Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, whose performances kept Colorado’s offense competitive. Once those players moved on to the NFL, the program found itself lacking players who could carry that same level of impact.
“With Colorado, you’re going to see the flash in the frying pan,” Newton observed. “They’re going to look the part. They’re going to, you know, get you out of your seat now and then. But it’s more about how they’re losing.” The results that followed were telling: the team’s roster experienced significant turnover, with nearly 40 players entering the transfer portal as redirection and rebuilding became the new normal for the program. Offthe-field shifts followed on the coaching staff as well, with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur dismissed and defensive coordinator Robert Livingstone leaving for the Denver Broncos. Colorado’s offense ranked 114th in the nation in total yards, while the defense lingered at 123rd, underscoring how far the program still had to go.
Prime’s sixth season as a head coach found him starting from near scratch, and in industry rankings he landed near the bottom of the Big 12’s slate of head coaches. Newton had previously floated a similar idea on his show: Sanders might better leverage his leadership by serving as a general manager for a program—perhaps Florida State, where the role could maximize his basketball-court of influence without the constant grind of day-to-day coaching duties. Whether Sanders chooses to embrace or resist such a path remains to be seen, and the clock isn’t waiting for anyone. The season’s outcomes have made the debate urgent: can Sanders recalibrate to sustain a program’s ascent, or will Newton’s pitch gain traction as a practical alternative? The trajectory of Colorado football continues to unfold, and the answer will shape Prime’s legacy in ways still being written.