Even with back-to-back losses against AP Top 10 opponents, Deion Sanders has already outperformed everyone's expectations in his first year at the University of Colorado.
He's taken a program that won just one game last season and turned it into arguably the biggest draw in college football in a matter of months with some of the most talented players in the sport.
Fellow NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who is close to Sanders, knows that this is only the beginning of what can be a dynastic type of run for the Buffaloes.
"What {Sanders'] wanting to do is open the door for other brothers out there, black coaches," Owens said during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast (41 minute mark). "It can be imitated but it can't be duplicated, it ain't gonna be the same... but he's setting and laying down the blue print of it can be done.
"... What he's doing there at Colorado, in a couple of years if he stays there, Colorado's gonna be Alabama."
Sanders kicked off his Colorado tenure with a bang by informing players from the program's former regime that he was bringing in his luggage from Jackson State as well as other transfers. Some of that "Louis" included his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and former No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter, both of whom came in from the HBCU.
The Buffaloes saw 71 players enter the transfer portal after Sanders arrived while brining in 51 new ones, many of which have been immediate contributors to the program's 3-2 start to the year.
As talented as Colorado is at skill positions, there is still much to be desired in the trenches. And that's where they have struggled the most in their losses to Oregon and USC, respectively.
Shedeur got sacked seven times against the Ducks and Colorado couldn't get much pressure on Heisman favorite Caleb Williams when facing the Trojans.
If the Buffaloes are going to become the next Alabama, it has to perfect the offensive and defensive lines like Nick Saban has done with the Crimson Tide, who consistently have first-round picks coming out of those positions.
And Sanders knows he's just a few key pieces away from really getting things going.
"I don't dream or fantasize," Sanders said during a recent appearance on First Take. "When I do dream, I'm wide awake. Most people dream while they're asleep, I'm wide awake, because I'm up and able to go get it. So I've seen that, and I know how we'll go get it. I know how we're gonna conquer it. I know how we're gonna go do it, and we don't need much.
"All you recruits out there, baby, you know I ain't hard to find. I ain't hard to find. I ain't hard to find. We're about seven to eight dawgs away from just changing the game. Seven to eight."
