Deion Sanders watched Colorado suffer another loss and chose not to offer a long explanation. He just put up a short but strong message on his Instagram, sent out while Colorado was still dealing with the loss.
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The Buffaloes are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 after a 23-13 loss to Baylor on September 26. That game came one week after a 41-7 defeat at Northwestern. Those two back-to-back losses have raised many questions about Sanders and where this season is headed. The questions got louder on Monday, when national outlets put his name on their hot-seat lists.
Sports Illustrated ran a Week 4 hot-seat roundup. USA Today published a “who gets fired first” ranking from John Brice. Both pieces followed the Baylor loss. The reporting cited Colorado’s 18-23 record under Sanders, and a 2-11 mark in the last 13 games against Power Four teams.
Sanders answered the noise the same day. On Instagram, his post read, “Fear Not & Do not be afraid appears in the Bible over 300x! These words appear consistently because the message is what it is. FEAR NOT & DO NOT BE AFRAID! Release the fear release & stop the nonsense you’re gonna be alright if u just Believe! #COACHPRIME.”
The lists are built on the record, not the message. The 2024 season is still the high point in Boulder, built around Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. After those two left, Colorado went 3-9 and opened this year at 2-2.
However, firing during the year is unlikely, and a resignation or a call after the season is more plausible. Former athletic director Rick George has said the seat “is not hot,” but Fernando Lovo is the athletic director now, so any call would run through him.
Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million extension through 2029 after the 2024 season. The buyout numbers are not the same in every report. One reading of the deal puts it near $25.5 million if he is fired before the end of 2026, which is 75% of the remaining base salary. USA Today put the figure closer to $32 million.
Sanders is still standing on the way he runs the program. After the Northwestern loss, he dismissed players for conduct he called detrimental to the team, and he said he had not put his foot down hard enough the year before. The results are still an open problem.
Colorado scored 14 against Georgia Tech, 52 against Weber State, 7 against Northwestern, and 13 against Baylor. A point to be noted, the 52 came against an FCS opponent. Against FBS teams in these four games, the Buffaloes averaged about 11.3 points.
There’s another angle related to the Sanders’ Instagram post. Some commenters read the post as a note to the team and to quarterback Julian Lewis. The link comes from what happened two days earlier. That game is where the quarterback story took over.
Sanders benched his starter, Lewis, at halftime against Baylor. At that time, Colorado trailed 10-3. The QB was 11-of-16 for 75 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions, before he came out. Utah transfer Isaac Wilson replaced him and led a 95-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 13-13. Baylor scored again and won 23-13. Sanders explained the switch after the game.
“It was a decision I made because I was trying to get us going… That’s the one thing we have to understand with that position, quarterback, you don’t have to be the guy,” he said. “Isaac came in a little shaky, nervous. Then he calmed down a little bit and got us down the field. Did his job… Just get the ball to the man, and we’re good,” the head coach added.
The next game is another big test. Colorado hosts Texas Tech on October 3. Texas Tech is 4-0 and is favored by about two touchdowns. Another loss would turn the heat up because Utah, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State are on the schedule after that.
The message does not wipe out the record or the questions about his future. Saturday against Texas Tech is where that answer has to stand next to the score.