Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders was tasked with turning around one of the worst rosters in FBS football. The Buffaloes went 1-11 in 2022, a season before Sanders took on the head coaching duties. While they finished the 2023 season with a 4-8 record, the increased win margin is substantial. Sanders believes there's still work to do after inheriting a roster that wasn't built to his standard.

“The roster was so horrendous we had to flip it,” said Sanders, per Jeff Hauser at Sports Illustrated. “We inherited some bull junk. So, we flipped it. Now we really have what we need, not just bodies walking around aimlessly.”

Sanders received scrutiny when he first landed in Boulder because he was “forcing players out of the program.” He came in with his new luggage and challenged the Colorado football team to show him why each of them belonged on the roster. The Buffaloes had just four blue-chip recruits on the active roster, making it a tough turnaround for Sanders and his staff.

The No. 1 transfer portal class in 2023 and the No. 5 transfer portal class in 2024 belong to Sanders and Colorado football. Sanders didn't want to wait to build a repertoire at the Power Five level. He wanted experienced personnel who could help his team win now. The Buffaloes reeled in 51 commits from the portal in 2022 and 24 commits this offseason. Slowly but surely Sanders is flipping the talent in the Colorado football program. He's mentioned that his next step is to bulk the trenches, but he likes the direction that the team is heading toward.