Paul Ukighir
Under head coach Deion Sanders, the Colorado Buffaloes program has made a spectacular turnaround from a one-win squad just two years ago to a 9-4 team in 2024.
Up to the last week of the regular season, Sanders helped the Buffaloes end the 2024 college football season as the fourth-ranked team in the Big 12 standings, vying for a berth in the conference title game and the College Football Playoff. Colorado’s achievements go beyond the field, according to director of player personnel James Chaney, despite their success in the area. For the first time in the program’s history, Colorado’s football team achieved a cumulative GPA of more than 3.0, according to Chaney on Tuesday.
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After the release of the news, some fans took to social media to comment on the prestigious accomplishment from Colorado.
“That’s what up, awesome coach Prime,” said one fan. “Deion is working wonders,” said another fan.
“That’s astronomical especially at a High Educational Institution like CU Boulder,” mentioned one fan.
“They want that nil money,” commented one fan.
“Prime own boulder,” said one fan.
“Got to have that GPA or you don’t get paid. NIL,” said another fan.
Sanders discussed the value of the team’s education ahead of the 2024 college football season, saying that as the head coach, he’s “judged on a different scale.”
“I’m judged on a different scale,” Sanders said, per W.G. Ramirez at the Associated Press in July 2024.. “My wins are totally different than your wins. Your wins, you just judge football, that’s why I start out (talking about) education and academics and so forth. I have to give you those things so you understand there’s a greater scope.”
According to Sanders, it’s critical to “win in every area,” stressing the need for balance between academics and athletics.
“I can’t win nine games and our GPA suffers,” Sanders said. “Our GPA can’t be high and we lose another eight games. We can’t not go and grab high school players, and you’ve got a bunch of guys in the portal, out of the portal getting incarcerated. My wins are different. We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged.”
In 2023, Sanders’ first year with the program, the Buffaloes ended the year with a cumulative GPA of 2.932, according to Scott Procter at the Coloradoan.
