OT: Thoughts on Deion at Colorado?

[Matt Dossett]

So I've been rounding up and pinning down interviews with guys in HS but also some dudes in the portal. Got me thinking about what Deion is doing in Boulder, purging basically that entire roster and infusing it with portal talent.

Thoughts on how he will do and how quickly they will rise to prominence. I say top 10 nationally by year three. I ultimately see him taking a job like Texas A and M, when it comes open...

 

[Matt Dossett]

I think that begs the question, what pct of guys each year should be from the portal. Stock's bread and butter has been to sign 20 guys or so from the HS/JC ranks. I wouldn't be surprised to see that number knocked down a couple of notches, making roster space for the portal guys.

 

[mtfblue]

So I've been rounding up and pinning down interviews with guys in HS but also some dudes in the portal. Got me thinking about what Deion is doing in Boulder, purging basically that entire roster and infusing it with portal talent.

Thoughts on how he will do and how quickly they will rise to prominence. I say top 10 nationally by year three. I ultimately see him taking a job like Texas A and M, when it comes open...

he didn't upgrade any talent, he is taking a lot of kids that were backups, he had offered a D2 small wr after he said he had a list of 50 players to come to CU. it's a hot mess and he is stuck with these guys until they exhaust there eligibility. He wrote a check his ass couldn't cash. You can't use the same plan you used at JSU.

 

[RaiderDoug]

He better be the next coming of Knute Rockne combined with Nick Saban for all the pub he's getting.

Sure, he was successful at Jackson, but the fact is that at the FCS level, he can coach prime his way to a few big time recruits and just out-talent everyone else. At CU, he's going to need to be able to actually coach.

Plus, with all the hype, i'm not sure the leash is going to be all that long. The fact is, if he doesn't win big and soon, he's going to be a laughingstock. CU isn't a natural winner. It doesn't have a ton of recruiting cache nationally, doesn't have a local talent base to draw from, faces competition with a lot of natural advantages (OU, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington), doesn't have a traditional fan base and isn't at the top of anyone's list facility-wise, and frankly, isn't a traditional power.

It's a tough job for anyone, and while he can open some doors on the recruiting trail, i'm not sure he has the coaching chops to really elevate that program.

 

[mtfblue]

He better be the next coming of Knute Rockne combined with Nick Saban for all the pub he's getting.

Sure, he was successful at Jackson, but the fact is that at the FCS level, he can coach prime his way to a few big time recruits and just out-talent everyone else. At CU, he's going to need to be able to actually coach.

Plus, with all the hype, i'm not sure the leash is going to be all that long. The fact is, if he doesn't win big and soon, he's going to be a laughingstock. CU isn't a natural winner. It doesn't have a ton of recruiting cache nationally, doesn't have a local talent base to draw from, faces competition with a lot of natural advantages (OU, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Washington), doesn't have a traditional fan base and isn't at the top of anyone's list facility-wise, and frankly, isn't a traditional power.

It's a tough job for anyone, and while he can open some doors on the recruiting trail, i'm not sure he has the coaching chops to really elevate that program.

correct, he thought kids would flood there because of his name. he forgot one thing...it's cold as hell and southern kids don't cope well In that type of environment. A few kids have said that on Twitter. And the blizzard the night before the spring game didn't help in late April.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

I think he will win, but not this year. This fall will be a major wake up call and he will realize you can't have a majority of portal guys. You need a system that recruits AND develops hs guys and then plug holes with the portal.

This year will be lucky to hit 5-7. They open with TCU (who isn't same as last year and has a new OC but still more together) and have USC, Oregon, UCLA, and Utah this year. 6 of 12 games are against 9+ wins from last year.

I say by year 3 he will be ranked and if he can get kids to stay, top 10 by 4. By year 5 I agree, he will be gone. This is if his staff choices work out. He definitely is a live by his staff guy in FBS. Can't load on talent and whoop like he did in FCS. The schemes are gonna matter.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

The story of Marshall repopulating their roster after a catastrophic crash with a bunch of nobodys makes for a much better story than what Deion is doing.

I shook my head at some of the stories I saw about how he’s handled dismissals. But at the end of the day…it’s not about student athletes anymore. Only Deion is responsible for the Ws and Ls at the end of each season. College sports is minor league sports.

I’m sure he’ll be more successful than our paper weight of a head coach. And that alone pisses me off.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

The whole new way of things honestly makes it even more asinine that we have kept our coach this long.

It used to be if you changed coaches, it was a minimum 3-4yrs to get mostly their players and systems in place and win. That isn't true anymore. A decent young energetic coach could come in here and start winning by year 2 no problem.

But Colorado and Deion couldn't have done what they've done without one of two things. A huge personality energetic coach, or NIL $. If we hired an outgoing media personality that brought attention and players to the school without even having to recurit them, we could pull stuff off too. But we have neither a big name huge personality coach nor NIL $.

 

[AustinLewis]

The whole new way of things honestly makes it even more asinine that we have kept our coach this long.

It used to be if you changed coaches, it was a minimum 3-4yrs to get mostly their players and systems in place and win. That isn't true anymore. A decent young energetic coach could come in here and start winning by year 2 no problem.

But Colorado and Deion couldn't have done what they've done without one of two things. A huge personality energetic coach, or NIL $. If we hired an outgoing media personality that brought attention and players to the school without even having to recurit them, we could pull stuff off too. But we have neither a big name huge personality coach nor NIL $.

The next coach - whenever & whoever it may be - has to sell the program. He MUST do what James Franklin did for Vandy, Jeff Brohm did for WKU, and Deion did for JSU & has done for Colorado (we'll see if it translates to field in Boulder).

In the days of NIL, recruiting, and the portal, you need to be able to SELL your product to the masses. You have to be able to entertain. There are too many other ways folks can spend their money than going to a game (especially when it's on HD at home).

Your competition isn't just other college(s) in the area. It's the movies. It's the Titans, Predators, Nashville SC, and the Sounds. It's a night out. Make the on-field product worth the $$$ to go. Make the off-field environment engaging enough to come back.

 

[blueraiderJT]

With the resources and coaching staff he has, Prime will win there. May not be this year but he upgraded talent on every level. That was a 1-11 team he was replacing. How did he not upgrade? He had to replace them no matter what. We could have beaten them last year. He now has 2 no.1 players and a lot of 4's and 3's. Way better than what he had plus, they have more incentive to play for him. I'd rather have a team of hungry 2/3 stars than a bunch of 5 stars with no heart. Everyone downplays what he did at JSU. JSU was at the bottom of the FCS with ZERO resources and no talent. In 2 full seasons, he won 23 games with 2 conference titles. Eddie George ain't doing that and he's got big city resources. Prime was in the middle of Mississippi and didn't even have clean water while having to pay for hotel rooms out of his own pocket just so the kids could bathe in clean water. He did that for at least 4 weeks/games of the last season. Figure that bill out.

Lane Kiffin had 31 players leave and he won there last year. No one talks about that though.
Prime has already promoted Colorado at a level no other coach has. His marketing is next level. The excitement there is next level. Who cares about the product? Seriously. We won 8 games with a bowl win and we might as well be the Middle Tennessee Funeral Workers College. No one here cares. At all. CU had 50,000 at their spring game with celebs. We had no spring game with maybe 50-100 people. There was no reporting on it or anything. Our coach is a marketing disaster. He may care about the kids but he doesn't give a crap about promoting them and getting their names out there which is 9/10ths of the NIL game. He's not teaching them how to do outreach either. We know what we need but the admin couldn't care less. 20,000 empty seats or more per game and the staff plus former MT players are blaming us. It ain't changing until the top level people retire or die. Plain and simple. We are stuck. At least Prime is working his tail off trying to change things in Boulder. Our coach and AD thinks we are the problem and have zero intentions to change anything.

 

[MTLynn]

Lane Kiffin Calls Jimbo Fisher On His B.S. When It Comes To NIL's Role In Recruiting

Jimbo Fisher said that NIL had nothing to do with the No. 1-ranked recruiting class of all-time. Lane Kiffin simply does not believe him.

www.outkick.com

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

45-42

Prime over #17 TCU

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Was a great great game. Super fun to watch.

 

[Sommy]

Not to discount it, but TCU is not the same team as last year. I watched all their games last year and this year they have a ton of new players and new OC. Colorado looked good, but TCU is not a top team this year. The offense is almost all new and they shot themselves in the foot a few times today. Still CO gave up 40+ points.

When CO plays a top tier team it will be a different test than what they had today.

 

[MTOleBlue]

I will say this. Colorado won one game last year, and it took Coach Prime one game to match that total. Nebraska is going into a hornet's nest next week... Colorado's biggest rival coming in makes me believe there is a real shot to go 2-0.

 

[TRUEBLUE73]

Coach Prime is a coach that totally grasps the portal. In his first season he will win 7 or 8 if all stay healthy. That kid playing both ways is a stud. What they accomplished today was super impressive. His son looked great.

 

[MTFAN61]

A lot has changed with TCU. But I'm giving Prime Time some love. That wasn't just a win over a Power 5 school. It was a "Road win" over a team that played for the National Championship last year. No one thought Colorado would go on the road & win that game. Deion with his bravado & arrogance brings that mental & emotional charge to players that some don't like or understand, but sure makes for some electric plays.
He coaches like he plays. It may be polarizing to fans, but he puts his team on the map. It's exactly what Colorado wanted, & now they have it. Everyone's talking about them because of Deion.

 

[ewglenn]

Prime surprised me today but TCU is not a top 25 team. I think 6 wins for Colorado is a stretch.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

I think 6 wins is their ceiling. TCU is good, but as said, no where near last year. They are fun to watch though. Sanders had several big passes that the receivers dropped while he laid them perfectly. And Travis Hunter is one hell of an athlete. Wow.

Still though, to revamp a team and see them come together was impressive. I would call being bowl eligible in this situation a great accomplishment.

 

[mtfblue]

Hunter can't continue to play 132 snaps a game playing both ways. Yes CU stole one today as TCU killed themselves with Turnovers. I said 3 to 4 wins this year. so we will see what they do as the season moves. Also there were a lot guys playing not on the roster, I guess Prime wanted to surprise people with who was on the team. The roster only has half the players on there.

 

[blueraiderJT]

CU's offense was pretty great. Shadeur is a very good QB. If the D improves even a little, they will be a force this year. They can get Nebraska and CSU. It could be a good year for CU.

 

[RaiderDoug]

They were definitely good yesterday.

Not sure that TCU is as good as they have been. That QB is definitely not Max Duggan.

 

[AustinLewis]

Even if Deion only gets to 6 wins in year 1, that's big for a Colorado FB program that hasn't won much in recent memory. There's energy. Excitement. Ticket sales are going well. Lots to be happy about if you're a Colorado fan.

Props to Deion for using the portal, recruiting effectively, and playing a pretty good game yesterday.

 

[ewglenn]

Even if Deion only gets to 6 wins in year 1, that's big for a Colorado FB program that hasn't won much in recent memory. There's energy. Excitement. Ticket sales are going well. Lots to be happy about if you're a Colorado fan.

Props to Deion for using the portal, recruiting effectively, and playing a pretty good game yesterday.

To be fair, Colorado played for a conference championship and won 10 games in 2016 (which is funny Mike is now the head coach at FIU). They were a 4 to 5 win team every year up until last year. They weren’t as bad as Deion and the media are making them out to be. 6 wins would be a nice turnaround but nothing to get this hyped up about. Now if they got to 8 wins I would be onboard the hype train. I still think this is fun but isn’t going to work out because Deion isn’t a great coach just a great recruiter.

 

[blueraiderJT]

To be fair, Colorado played for a conference championship and won 10 games in 2016 (which is funny Mike is now the head coach at FIU). They were a 4 to 5 win team every year up until last year. They weren’t as bad as Deion and the media are making them out to be. 6 wins would be a nice turnaround but nothing to get this hyped up about. Now if they got to 8 wins I would be onboard the hype train. I still think this is fun but isn’t going to work out because Deion isn’t a great coach just a great recruiter.

LOL 1-11 by big double digit losses. Yes, they were that bad.

 

[blueraiderJT]

Even if Deion only gets to 6 wins in year 1, that's big for a Colorado FB program that hasn't won much in recent memory. There's energy. Excitement. Ticket sales are going well. Lots to be happy about if you're a Colorado fan.

Props to Deion for using the portal, recruiting effectively, and playing a pretty good game yesterday.

Ticket dales aren't just going well, they are sold out every game.

Here is the biggest take away. Prime's recruiting just got a massive boost with this win. Every player is realistically within reach on the board for grabs now.

 

[ewglenn]

LOL 1-11 by big double digit losses. Yes, they were that bad.

I’m saying as a program. They obviously had a bad year last year.

 

[AustinLewis]

To be fair, Colorado played for a conference championship and won 10 games in 2016 (which is funny Mike is now the head coach at FIU). They were a 4 to 5 win team every year up until last year. They weren’t as bad as Deion and the media are making them out to be. 6 wins would be a nice turnaround but nothing to get this hyped up about. Now if they got to 8 wins I would be onboard the hype train. I still think this is fun but isn’t going to work out because Deion isn’t a great coach just a great recruiter.

Fair points.

But going from 1-11 to 6-6 in one season is an incredible achievement.

I'm not ready to write Deion into the CFB as a coach. Jury is still out. A week 1 win is a week 1 win. Let's see what he looks like over a season or two

 

[AustinLewis]

Fair points.

But going from 1-11 to 6-6 in one season is an incredible achievement.

I'm not ready to write Deion into the CFB as a coach. Jury is still out. A week 1 win is a week 1 win. Let's see what he looks like over a season or two

And I think most MT fans would love to get just a fraction of the positive publicity Deion has gotten for Colorado.

 

[blueraiderJT]

Prime has done more for Colorado in 6 months than all of our leadership have done for MT in over 24 years.

 

[SpaceRaider]

There's energy. Excitement. Ticket sales are going well.

I am envious. Wish the same could be said for our medicore, moribund, football program.

 

[Sommy]

Ticket dales aren't just going well, they are sold out every game.

Here is the biggest take away. Prime's recruiting just got a massive boost with this win. Every player is realistically within reach on the board for grabs now.

For sure it has opened the eyes of recruits, but the flip side is he has shown no loyalty to players. We all know he ran off the existing team, but he also boldly named his son the starting QB minutes after he took the job. Now hindsight (after one game) shows he might be right, but damn that’s a bad way to handle it. I don’t think I would ever consider letting my kid go play with him. It would just be too chaotic. Even his post game comments.

How long before he gets hit with a recruiting violation? Deion has always skirted the rules (and ethics) and at this level I feel like he will have success, but ultimately something will bring him down. Recruiting issues, pissing off former players, something. Look up his Prime Prep academy if you want to go down the rabbit hole.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

My wife had no idea who he was yesterday. So I was explaining his college, NFL, and MLB achievements. (I grew up as a third gen Cowboys fan) And I summed him up as this.

He is full of himself, cocky, selfish, will gladly talk about himself (but will talk up others but if given the chance to make it about him.....). Has always talked a big game. But yet in almost every case he has backed it up. And it may wind up a train wreck but man is it fun to watch. I'm here for it. And if this experiment with the portal does work, he won't be the only 1st year coach with 50 new players. He'll either be the last to do it or set a new trend.

 

[sWiley]

I believe Colorado plays the toughest schedule in the country. 6 wins would be nice for them, all things considered.

 

[ewglenn]

My wife had no idea who he was yesterday. So I was explaining his college, NFL, and MLB achievements. (I grew up as a third gen Cowboys fan) And I summed him up as this.

He is full of himself, cocky, selfish, will gladly talk about himself (but will talk up others but if given the chance to make it about him.....). Has always talked a big game. But yet in almost every case he has backed it up. And it may wind up a train wreck but man is it fun to watch. I'm here for it. And if this experiment with the portal does work, he won't be the only 1st year coach with 50 new players. He'll either be the last to do it or set a new trend.

Oh I think that is going to be the new normal. He wasn’t the first coach to do it but the first one that the major media outlets shined a major light on.

 

[blueraiderJT]

For sure it has opened the eyes of recruits, but the flip side is he has shown no loyalty to players. We all know he ran off the existing team, but he also boldly named his son the starting QB minutes after he took the job. Now hindsight (after one game) shows he might be right, but damn that’s a bad way to handle it. I don’t think I would ever consider letting my kid go play with him. It would just be too chaotic. Even his post game comments.

How long before he gets hit with a recruiting violation? Deion has always skirted the rules (and ethics) and at this level I feel like he will have success, but ultimately something will bring him down. Recruiting issues, pissing off former players, something. Look up his Prime Prep academy if you want to go down the rabbit hole.

but when lincoln riley and Lane do it, it's cool.

 

[AustinLewis]

My wife had no idea who he was yesterday. So I was explaining his college, NFL, and MLB achievements. (I grew up as a third gen Cowboys fan) And I summed him up as this.

He is full of himself, cocky, selfish, will gladly talk about himself (but will talk up others but if given the chance to make it about him.....). Has always talked a big game. But yet in almost every case he has backed it up. And it may wind up a train wreck but man is it fun to watch. I'm here for it. And if this experiment with the portal does work, he won't be the only 1st year coach with 50 new players. He'll either be the last to do it or set a new trend.

Two of the biggest upsets in week 1 (Colorado over TCU, Tx State over Baylor) were by 1st year HC who brought in 40+ players from the portal.

Jury is out if either team (Tx State or Colorado) will actually be good this year and if hitting the portal is good for your program long-term, but I don’t mind guys rolling the dice and trying something new.

Coaches don’t get a 3-4 year leash anymore. They gotta try something to turn programs around faster.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Coaches don’t get a 3-4 year leash anymore.

MT is the exception...

 

[blueraiderJT]

MT will give you 30-40 years to get it right. LOL.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Two of the biggest upsets in week 1 (Colorado over TCU, Tx State over Baylor) were by 1st year HC who brought in 40+ players from the portal.

Jury is out if either team (Tx State or Colorado) will actually be good this year and if hitting the portal is good for your program long-term, but I don’t mind guys rolling the dice and trying something new.

Coaches don’t get a 3-4 year leash anymore. They gotta try something to turn programs around faster.

Which is exactly why there is zero excuse to have a coach at a G5 school for this long. We hire a guy and he can turn it around in 2yrs. Bring in a few new ones year one, the the finishing touches year two. Boom. Win. So he gets yanked. Just use the buyout $ and do it again.

Idk why this is so freaking hard for our administration to understand. It's like Stock has a spell on them or something.