One of Colorado’s biggest boosters loves him.
asserted
One → love → him
One of his most daunting opponents does, too.
asserted
One → do → opponents
Deion Sanders is still capturing his share of hearts at the Colorado program he put back on the map when the coach arrived before the 2023 season.
asserted
coach → capture → season
But wins aren’t following.
asserted
wins → follow → ?
Examining the before and after of CU’s most recent loss — a 29-7 home setback against Texas Tech on Saturday that dropped Sanders to 18-24 at CU — shows there aren’t any clear-cut answers for the Buffs, who are 2-3.
asserted
who → examine → Buffs
Yes, they could use more money to stay on pace in the college sports arms race.
uncertain
they → use → race
Even if they got it, there is mixed evidence as to whether “Coach Prime” and his staff are up to the task of winning big.
asserted
Prime → get → task
A key booster finds a lot to like in his childhood hero, Coach Prime
A booster named Rob Wilhite was among the hundreds hanging out Saturday on a lawn in the shadow of Colorado’s Folsom Field.
asserted
booster → find → Field
On autumn Saturdays, the football-sized field becomes “Ralphie’s Corral,” named after the buffalo that leads the Buffs onto the gridiron.
asserted
that → become → gridiron
“Look what he’s done for our program,” he says of Sanders as he points at the hundreds of people milling, sipping and waiting for a pregame appearance from Ralphie herself.
asserted
he → look → Ralphie
“Before he came, there was no one out here.
asserted
he → come → ?
Wilhite grew up in Dallas watching Sanders play for the Cowboys on Sundays.
asserted
Sanders → grow → Sundays
On Saturdays, he loved watching Eric Bieniemy lead the Buffs to their only national title in 1990.
asserted
Bieniemy → love → 1990
The day the attorney officially fell in love with CU football was Jan. 1, 1996, at the Cotton Bowl.
asserted
attorney → fall → Bowl
“I got to see Rick Neuheisel play his guitar,” Wilhite said of the magnetic former coach.
asserted
Wilhite → get → coach
“My mom was so mad I wouldn’t go to Emory or Georgia or anywhere else.
asserted
I → go → Emory
I wanted to go to Colorado.”
asserted
I → want → Colorado
Colorado is lucky he came.
asserted
he → come → ?
Wilhite didn’t want to disclose and, frankly, probably couldn’t even nail down how much money he has poured into the school’s athletic department over the years.
asserted
he → want → years
Suffice it to say, when the referee uses replay to review close calls at CU games, the massive scoreboards inside Folsom Field — enlarged as one of the school’s first big projects after Sanders’ arrival — kill time by reminding fans that replays are brought to them by none other than Wilhite’s law firm.
asserted
replays → suffice → firm
Generous as he is, Wilhite is also well aware CU football could use 10 or 20 more folks just like him.
uncertain
football → use → him
He loves Sanders, whose .429 win percentage at Colorado would get a coach fired at Michigan or Alabama, no questions asked.
asserted
questions → love → Michigan
But in the hours before the Texas Tech game, Wilhite was talking about getting more help for the coach, not firing him.
asserted
Wilhite → talk → him
“We need more people to come out and understand that we’re a young program and we need to develop it more,” Wilhite said.
asserted
Wilhite → need → it
“I think part of the problem is, we can’t get a lot of donors to donate.”
asserted
lot → think → donors
CU is finding its way in the NIL arms race
Wilhite knows what name-image-likeness payments to players in this new era of college sports have done not only to his own experience, but to the Colorado roster and college football itself.
asserted
payments → find → roster
“The problem is, at Colorado, as soon as we have a player who does really well, they get bought,” he said.
asserted
he → have → player
He ticks off a few: Dylan Edwards left for Kansas State.
asserted
Edwards → tick → State
Jordan Seaton went to LSU.
asserted
Seaton → go → LSU
More bankroll might have helped Sanders stop some of those departures.
uncertain
Sanders → help → departures
Either way, the celebrity coach has made Colorado football matter again and stoked a new energy on campus.
asserted
football → make → campus
It impacts the way so many people think and act and, yes, spend at the school and on the athletic program.
asserted
people → impact → program
For example, one of the reasons now-retired athletic director Rick George gave for ripping out grass and installing artificial turf at Folsom Field before this season was that it would make it easier if CU might someday host a College Football Playoff game.
uncertain
CU → retire → game
It won’t happen this year.
asserted
It → happen → ?
A Texas Tech billionaire brings his son on a recruiting visit to CU
No one seemed surprised to see Cody Campbell hugging it out with Sanders on the visitors’ sideline before the game.
asserted
Campbell → bring → game
He has worked tirelessly to promote a bill in Congress — the Protect College Sports Act — that could shift the out-of-control spending dynamics in college sports.
uncertain
that → work → sports
One of the ironies is that if the bill passes and puts guardrails around what schools can spend, that would most likely help the Colorados of the world — the schools that don’t have billionaire donors — at the expense of the Texas Techs, the schools that do.
asserted
that → pass → Techs
Campbell was wearing more than his regent’s hat at this one.
asserted
Campbell → wear → one
Part of the beauty of Sanders — whose most recent contract extension was worth $54 million through 2029, and who got CU to revamp its admission policies so he could recruit a wider range of players — is that he stirs the pot and generates almost endless headlines about the once-lost brand known as CU football.
uncertain
he → get → football
He is also OK with taking the heat when things go bad, which has been a lot lately.
asserted
which → take → heat
…and 47 more, not listed.
The Aporia
