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Colorado's 29-7 defeat to No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday not only dropped the Buffaloes to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play, but it also reignited discussions about head coach Deion Sanders' job security. The loss marked Colorado's third consecutive and came after a promising 2-0 start to the season.
However, former NFL players are pushing back hard against the notion that Sanders should be on the hot seat. Super Bowl-winning wide receiver James Jones delivered a blunt assessment, arguing that Sanders has brought unprecedented attention and energy to a program that desperately needed it.
"You lost a lot of key pieces to your football team," Jones said, acknowledging the roster turnover. "But if you fire him, you're going to lose 90% of that team. You're going to go back to being awful. You're going to go back to not having no excitement. You're going to go back to not selling tickets. All that's coming if you fire Deion Sanders. So I think that'll be the stupidest decision to let Prime go."
Jones pointed to the packed stadium, skyrocketing ticket sales, and the national spotlight that Sanders has attracted since arriving in Boulder in 2023. Before his arrival, Colorado had gone 1-11, and the program was largely irrelevant on the national stage.
LeSean McCoy, another former NFL star and current media personality, took the defense even further. He questioned why anyone would forget the transformative impact Sanders has had. "People on TV talk about Colorado. Why is that? Deion Sanders, man. Coach Prime," McCoy said. "So I hate when I hear all these type of stuff. Should they fire him? No. The things he's done for them kids and that University, no one else can do that. And give the guy some grace. He had a lot of health issues earlier in the season. So I just hate when people's not grateful. Like before he got there, what were y'all? Irrelevant."
Sanders' tenure has been a rollercoaster. In 2023, he immediately turned the Buffaloes into a national story, though they finished 4-8. In 2024, the on-field results caught up to the hype as Colorado went 9-4 and Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy. But after Shedeur Sanders and Hunter departed for the NFL, the program's foundation looked much thinner, and the Buffs crashed to 3-9 in 2025, losing seven of their final eight games.
Now, the same warning signs are creeping back. The Texas Tech loss was particularly ugly because Colorado actually started well. Isaac Wilson opened the game with a 75-yard touchdown drive and gave the Buffs a 7-3 halftime lead. Then everything unraveled as they turned the ball over four times, missed two field goals, and even failed on a fake punt. Wilson threw three interceptions, including a pick-six. Texas Tech turned those mistakes into 19 points and scored 29 unanswered after Colorado's opening touchdown.
Sanders did not hide from the offensive disaster afterward. "We've been horrible. Don't sugarcoat it," he said during his postgame speech.
So, yes, the hot-seat talk is back. But firing Deion Sanders now would mean throwing away more than a coach. It would mean gambling that Colorado can replace the attention, recruiting pull, and national relevance he created while also fixing the football. That is a much harder sell than simply saying the record is bad.
For now, Sanders gets another chance to repair it. Colorado's next game is against No. 13 Utah on Oct. 17.
Originally reported by yahoo.