Woah! It seems that the ESPN analysts vs. Deion Sanders saga isn’t over. Days after his “irrelevant” take on Deion’s Colorado Buffaloes and their Big 12 Playoff dream, Paul Finebaum is back at it again. This time, he dropped a bomb suggesting that Sanders would be the perfect replacement for the USC Trojans’ HC Lincoln Riley. However, this just did not sit well with the Locked on Buffs podcast host, Kevin Borba. On Tuesday, July 23, the host pointed out how the probability of Coach Prime replacing Riley goes null and void. But why would the Buffs HC not be an excellent coach to steer the Trojans’ ship? 

Borba dismisses Finebaums’ claim of delivering a scorching hot take at the Buffs head coach. While the analyst is sure that USC won’t stick with Riley for long, he dropped his suggestion that Deion is the Trojans’ “answer” for the next season. The reason he thinks is that Coach Prime is going to be tired of Colorado soon. From here, Borba takes the rein in his podcast. To him, Deion and Trojans do not even stand a chance since, impressed by the Buffs HC, Colorado handed over a $250K bonus to Coach Prime. Hence, the analyst pointed out that leaving money and fame, he would not go anywhere. “Lincoln Riley’s going to struggle so much again that he gets fired after three years despite being like USC would be on the hook for having to pay so much money and what coach is going to give up all that money to? Not going to happen. So that doesn’t make sense,” stated Borba.

He then pin-pointed Finebaum’s “hypocrisy,” who refused to slam the coach directly. Instead, Finebaum walked a middle path as Borba quoted the analyst, “Deion Sanders is the best salesman I’ve ever seen. I personally love the guy for what he stands for but the program looking out has a ridiculously inflated view of itself.” But why would the Trojans not reap any benefit if Deion takes the reins?

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Coach Prime might not be the perfect fit for USC

The Trojans are a storied program that hasn’t had much success over the past 15 years. It has been long since they bagged the three-straight Rose Bowls under the notable tutelage of Pete Caroll between 2006 and 2008. Hence, they direly need someone powerful to take up the head coaching role in case Riley’s time at USC has ended. And that being said, the Buffs HC is not the right one. 

Deion in Colorado has a lot to figure out. The 4-8 Buffs narrative last season has tampered with his role as a coach. The O-line was exceptionally bad, which propelled them to the bottom of the table in 2023. Even though he is all armed up for this season to address the loopholes, the result of his efforts has yet to come to light.  

Based on their last season’s narrative, the effect is spotted in the predictions of the media poll. Deion’s Colorado is anticipated to finish at No.11 in the Big 12 race. With this, Coach Prime is not the right fit as the next Trojans HC.