Connelly: What will Deion’s Colorado roster actually look like on the field?
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Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff Writer
If you’ve talked to a coach or a fan or a writer or an analyst or anyone else about use of the transfer portal in college football, you’ve probably either said it or heard it: “It’s like free agency!” Indeed, player movement has increased significantly, so there’s an element of truth to the thought, if exaggerated. But credit Colorado‘s Deion Sanders for changing the game a bit. It’s not like free agency for Coach Prime and his Buffaloes in 2023 — it’s like an expansion draft.
After Sanders’ first spring practice was over in Boulder, 47 players entered the transfer portal, joining the many former Buffaloes who were already there. Some left of their own volition, and others were told to go. The portal and the (temporary, for now) elimination of signing limits have allowed new coaches to flip large portions of their inherited rosters in much quicker fashion than was previously possible. But Sanders has attempted to flip nearly the entire dang thing.
We don’t really know how this will all work out, but there can be no doubting two things:
1. Sanders has upgraded the amount of higher-end talent on his roster. By my count, there were two former blue-chip recruits on Colorado’s roster last year. Including incoming freshmen, there are now something in the neighborhood of 15 or 16, including five — five-star sophomore corner Travis Hunter (Jackson State), junior corner Omarion Cooper (Florida State), junior nickelback Myles Slusher (Arkansas), junior safety Travis Jay (Florida State) and five-star freshman corner Cormani McClain — in a potentially dynamite secondary.
2. Colorado is almost guaranteed to improve, both because of the talent upgrade and the fact that the team almost literally couldn’t be worse. The Buffaloes went 1-11 last season and ranked a dreadful 124th in SP+. In the past 15 years, a power-conference team has never ranked worse. In terms of SP+ percentile ratings, the only CU team that has graded out lower was the 1962 edition, which at one point lost to six straight Big 8 opponents by a combined 278-49.
That doesn’t mean that every player on the team was terrible and needed to be replaced — a lot of CU’s incoming transfers don’t appear to be any better or more successful than some of the players who left, and quite a few of the outgoing transfers landed at schools that have been a lot better than Colorado of late. But while this overhaul feels like overkill, it will generate improvement. There’s almost no choice.
Personally, I’m not a fan of this grand experiment, if primarily for the scope of the precedent it sets. After a lengthy fight, college athletes have begun to actually earn what’s theirs in terms of both money and control over their playing careers. The idea that a coach can come in and boot nearly everyone on the roster flips the balance of power too far in the other direction. Colorado technically followed protocol by allowing players who have been cut to continue on scholarship at CU, but a coach never has to worry about too many players selecting that option since they wouldn’t be allowed to play football anymore.
Nearly every coach in the country ends up asking a few players to transfer to make the scholarship math work, but Sanders’ moves had nothing to do with scholarship math and everything to do with exerting total control over a roster. I wrote in March that I was a fan of getting rid of the annual 25-man limit on scholarships a school can give out — it feels like a grave necessity in the portal era — but this makes me think there should still be some sort of limit, even if it’s a huge one (40? 50?).
My personal opinions don’t really matter, though. This is happening, and aside from “They can’t get worse,” it’s been pretty difficult to get a grasp on how Colorado might fare on the field in Sanders’ first season. Hell, it’s been difficult to even envision what a two-deep might look like. But with portal activity slowing down, let’s take a shot.
Below, we’re going to walk through a potential position-by-position depth chart for Sanders’ Buffaloes in 2023. It’s a loose estimate based almost entirely on known production and/or recruiting rankings. Call it a best-case scenario two-deep of sorts — if everyone lives up to potential, this could be a version of Colorado’s best lineup. How much of an upgrade are we talking about here, and how much of Sanders’ moves were more of the “trading like for like” variety?
In the midst of a historic season for Vanderbilt, the school agreed to a new contract with coach Clark Lea with the aim of keeping Vanderbilt competitive with the top of the SEC.
Per ESPN sources, Lea has a new six-year deal to remain the Commodores coach. This comes amid a hectic coaching cycle in which Lea drew interest from multiple high-end suitors with open jobs.
Lea and Vanderbilt agreed to the deal this week, and it includes a significant salary increase for Lea. It also includes numerous assets to continue the program’s upward trend, including additional resources for both staff and facilities.
Lea has led No. 14 Vanderbilt on a remarkable ascent the past two seasons. This year, he has led Vanderbilt to a 9-2 record and a 5-2 mark in the SEC, as Vanderbilt is part of the College Football Playoff conversation with a chance to get to 10-2 at No. 19 Tennessee this weekend.
Last season, Vanderbilt rattled off a series of firsts in program history, including a first win over a No. 1 team when the Commodores toppled Alabama. It marked the first time since 1955 that Vanderbilt beat Alabama and Auburn in the same season.
Vanderbilt’s turnaround came in sync with a staff overhaul after a 2023 season that saw the team go winless in the SEC. That included the hiring of New Mexico State offensive coordinator Tim Beck in the same role and New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill in a chief consulting role.
That led to the transfer of dynamic quarterback Diego Pavia, who has spearheaded the culture change on the field for the Commodores.
Following Lea’s extension, sources told ESPN’s Eli Lederman that Vanderbilt is expected to intensify its efforts to flip five-star Georgia quarterback commit Jared Curtis before the early signing period opens next week.
Curtis, ESPN’s No. 1 pocket passer in the 2026 class, is from Nashville and could have the opportunity to compete to start from Day 1 with the Commodores next fall. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound passer has been the top-ranked member of Georgia’s incoming recruiting class since May.
Lea is a longtime successful defensive coach, who took over in Vanderbilt in 2021 after the Commodores went winless in 2020. He came from Notre Dame, where he worked under Brian Kelly. Lea is a protegee of Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, who he worked under at both Wake Forest and Notre Dame when Elko coordinated at those stops.
The strong financial commitment to Lea, his staff and facility upgrades is in line with Vanderbilt’s recent newfound commitment to high-end athletics under Candice Lee, as the school is pushing through more than $300 million in athletic facility upgrades on campus.
Lee is a Vanderbilt alum, and the school has worked hard to channel resources to stay competitive in the SEC.
Vanderbilt continues its season of rare air this weekend, as its only two losses are at Alabama and at Texas. The Commodores have wins over South Carolina, Missouri and LSU, which were all ranked at the time.
Lea is a Nashville native and Vanderbilt graduate.
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Mark Schlabach
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Mark Schlabach
ESPN Senior Writer
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Florida has shifted focus from Lane Kiffin in the school’s coaching search, as the school has sensed through irregular communication that he’s interested in other options, sources told ESPN on Friday.
Florida, which is searching for former coach Billy Napier’s successor, has interviewed roughly a dozen candidates and is optimistic about the process.
Louisville‘s Jeff Brohm, Tulane‘s Jon Sumrall and Washington‘s Jeff Fisch are believed to be among the candidates the Gators are still considering.
Florida targeted Kiffin early in the search and offered him a deal to put him among the highest paid coaches in college football, which included significant incentives.
Ole Miss officials told ESPN ahead of Saturday’s Egg Bowl against Mississippi State in Starkville that Kiffin is expected to provide them with a decision about his future on Friday night or Saturday. He’s also considering a lucrative contract offer from SEC rival LSU.
LSU also wants an answer from Kiffin, as the coaching carousel has intensified the Tigers’ search, as well as a potential one at Ole Miss if Kiffin leaves.
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt‘s Clark Lea, two of the top candidates believed to be under consideration at either Florida or LSU, signed six-year contract extensions with their respective schools in the past 24 hours.
If the No. 7 Rebels defeat the Bulldogs on Saturday, they’ll finish 11-1 and are expected to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time. They would possibly host a first-round game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi, on Dec. 19 or 20.
If Kiffin decides to leave for LSU, the Rebels have an interim plan in place. Sources previously told ESPN that former New York Giants interim coach Joe Judge would likely serve as interim head coach.
Sources told ESPN that all options are still on the table if Kiffin decides to replace Brian Kelly as LSU’s coach-even potentially coaching the Rebels in the CFP. But sources said Kiffin sticking around after agreeing to coach at an SEC rival wasn’t an ideal scenario.
Kiffin, 50, has guided the Rebels to a 54-19 record in his six seasons — only Alabama (66-12) and Georgia (70-8) have more wins in the SEC since the start of the 2020 season. In fact, the Rebels have the eighth-most wins among power-conference teams during that stretch.
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