Colorado is gearing up for a crucial 2026 season, with plenty on the line. Deion Sanders has to prove that his 2024 success at Boulder wasn’t a fluke. Just as Coach Prime’s fans are waiting for the Buffs to take to the field, even the naysayers have gathered around. Former LSU player Breiden Fehoko has called out the Colorado head coach for evading accountability for his failures at the Buffs.
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“You can’t say, ‘Well, this is what God had planned for me.” ‘No, that isn’t,’ Fehoko said on his show on August 29 during a conversation with Jason Whitlock. “That’s just you being a bad coach. Take accountability for that. You can’t turn every criticism, like I said, into something and a storyline and a narrative of, ‘Oh, this is in God’s works for me. I got players leaving the program. Oh, Jordan Seaton wants to leave the program. Oh, God had that in store for me.'”
“Those are your dealings and your accountability that you have to deal with. Maybe God does have a purpose for you. You can still be wrong. Maybe God blessed you tremendously. Yeah, you still need correction. You can still be doing a poor job in certain areas. And you know what? At the end of the day, accountability for who we are as a person and what we continue to do in this life has to land on us as men.”
The discussion between Fehoko and Whitlock argued that Coach Prime only sells aura. You can’t rely on him to build a winning culture. They also point to the aura losing its appeal. Colorado has yet to sell out its 2026 season. Moreover, the team is unranked in the AP Poll ahead of the campaign.
However, Colorado wasn’t exactly screaming winning culture when Deion Sanders took over the program. The Buffs finished with a 1-11 overall record during the 2022 season. The 2016 season under Mike MacIntyre (10-4) was the lone success in a decade of losing seasons for the program. And even Deion Sanders struggled to get them going. Colorado finished 4-8 in its first season at the program.
However, in 2024, everything fell in place. Coach Prime led the program to a 9-4 finish and an Alamo Bowl appearance. That was on the back of generational performances from Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. When they departed for the NFL, Colorado collapsed to 3-9 in 2025.
As far as Whitlock is concerned, he has never been a believer in Deion Sanders’ project at Boulder. Last year, he said he’d support the team after Coach Prime announced he was ill. However, he was in the opposite camp after Week 1.
Fehoko argues that Sanders uses spirituality as an escape hatch. When elite five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton blindsided Colorado by entering the transfer portal and transferring to LSU. Coach Prime turned to a faith-based message on social media the same day Seaton entered the transfer portal.
“The Lord is my shepherd & I shall not want. God has supplied ALL my needs, & my wants are on me to go secure with the gifts that God gave me. This is why I NEVER worry, panic, trip & hate on anyone,” Sanders’ post read.
But what does Fehoko want Coach Prime to do in this situation? Does he want him to berate his player publicly? There is no doubt that LSU has a stronger financial pull than Colorado’s. It is also undeniable that the NIL played a role in Seaton’s decision to transfer.
Coach Prime’s flamboyance often obscures the fact that the Buffs lack the resources needed to compete in the current NIL landscape. That is the reality. Even in their own conference, they can’t compete with Texas Tech or even BYU. That makes his 2024 success even more impressive.
It doesn’t mean that Deion Sanders is without his failures. He has yet to address Colorado’s defensive woes in his three years at the program. Last year, Pat Shurmur, as offensive coordinator, didn’t make sense to the fans. That showed in how the offense played.
We can even question whether Deion Sanders’ overreliance on the portal rather than high school recruiting has paid off for the program. On his part, Deion Sanders has addressed that flaw for the 2027 class. The criticism would make more sense if it came in good faith, and Whitlock does not practice that when it comes to Coach Prime.