For the second consecutive offseason, no college football program had more players transfer in than the University of Colorado.
The Buffaloes also had the most transfers leaving the program.
For the second straight year, this year’s Buffaloes team will look much different than the previous year.
Head coach Deion Sanders has yet to make Colorado a powerhouse. The Buffaloes at one point rose to No. 18 in the country last season. But Sanders’ program is one of the most polarizing in the country.
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Colorado’s Travis Hunter (12) walks on the field during a game against Arizona at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Nov. 11, 2023. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
One of the team’s biggest stars is Travis Hunter, a two-way player who can lock up defensively and burn an opponent offensively.
Hunter played under Sanders at Jackson State and followed him to Boulder ahead of the 2023 season. Hunter knows Sanders better than almost any other player on the roster, and he says not everyone is cut out for Sanders’ style.
“They can’t take the criticism. They can’t take coaches getting on them. They can’t take not being able to start right off the bat. They think everything is handed to them, and they can’t take how they’re getting treated,” Hunter said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“Everybody’s gonna get treated the same. You get treated as who they are. A lot of people leave because they think they’re just bigger than us, bigger than the school. And some people just see the grass is greener on the other side, so they take their chances.”
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders speaks to the media during Big 12 media days at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas July 10, 2024. (Candice Ward/USA Today Sports)
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Hunter, though, says anyone leaving Sanders and Colorado is missing out on how to get ready for the NFL.
“We gotta come in there with our socks high, be at meetings 15 minutes before they start. It’s not necessarily advice he gives us, it’s what he instills in us,” Hunter said. “We already know what we gotta do at the next level since we’re doing it right now in Colorado. It’s pretty much going to be a walk in the park once we get to the next level.
“Everything that y’all see that he says online, that’s actually how he is when the cameras aren’t on,” Hunter added. “He tries to help us out as much as he can. That’s him. He’s looking out for us on and off the field.”
As for on-field success, though, Hunter says Colorado needs to be better in close games.
Colorado’s Travis Hunter plays pass coverage against Arizona at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
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“We gotta win more. We gotta win the clutch games where we lost by seven or less. We’re right there. We just gotta finish those games right there,” Hunter said. “Our record easily could’ve been switched.”
Colorado, now a member of the Big 12, kicks off the second year of the Coach Prime era Thursday at 8 p.m. ET against North Dakota State.
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