It didn’t take long for the Coach Prime effect to begin to work its magic in Boulder. From landing the No. 21 recruiting class in the country — the Colorado Buffaloes’ best showing on over 15 seasons — to landing elite five-star talent, Sanders is in a groove.
According to Buffaloes reporter Brian Howell, the school is even selling spring game tickets for the first time, and they’re going at a record pace. Howell took to Twitter to talk about the change and sudden spike in attendance for what has become a pretty dormant and downtrodden program over the years.
Deion Sanders Effect: Colorado Selling Spring Game Tickets For First Time Ever
“For the first time, Colorado is selling tickets, to its spring game, which is two months from tomorrow,” Howell wrote on Twitter. “So far, the #cubuffs have sold 30,013 tickets. For perspective, CU counted a total of 30,450 fans showed up (for free) to the last seven spring games combined. Last year: 1,950.”
That’s all Coach Prime and exactly why the Buffaloes made the splash hire, in hopes that the Pro Football Hall of Famer can resurrect a once proud and championship-contending program.
All The Bells And Whistles For Deion Sanders First Spring Game
While at Jackson State, Sanders was able to get ESPN to broadcast the Tigers’ spring game, and it was a huge success. ESPN returned to Jackson, Mississippi, in season with its hit show “College GameDay” for JSU’s matchup with SWAC rival Southern. Upon Sanders’ arrival to Colorado the hope was to have them play on “Week Zero,” which is technically the week before the season begins for most Power Five programs. That fell through, as it was too late in the process to pull that off, so you know ESPN is going to be front and center when Sanders coaches his new team in its first game-like setting.
It’s going to be an extravaganza in the mold of last year’s highly-anticipated event at JSU.
That’s when we’ll get our first look at the 35 new players, Deion raved about. You know, the “Louis Vuitton” types he mentioned in his first meeting with the team.
All Eyes Will Be On Shedeur Sanders And Offensive Coordinator Sean Lewis
CU fans will flock to legendary Folsom Field in an effort to see Coach Prime’s youngest son, Shedeur Sanders, lead the offense. There’s pressure on the junior signal-caller, with his dad naming him the starter from the jump. He and new offensive coordinator Sean Lewis will be joined at the hip, and Lewis is all about his offense having the right mindset.
In a team meeting earlier this week Lewis told his players this, saying, “If you don’t have the right mindset, the skill set don’t matter.”
Lewis will push Sanders as his starting quarterback, and with him it’s all about tempo and efficiency. While at Kent State, Lewis only went 24-31 as head coach, but his offense ranked in the top five in the country in pace, with a play run every 30 seconds, and they ran the fourth-most plays in all of FBS. The Golden Flashes also averaged 28 points per game last season.
