Jalen Ramsey didn’t show up to Colorado’s leadership retreat just to make an appearance. He came because Deion Sanders shaped the way he saw the game long before Ramsey ever reached the NFL.
Speaking to several of the Buffaloes’ rising leaders, Ramsey made clear why Sanders carries such weight with players who have been around the game at the highest level. For Ramsey, the value is in the lived experience.
“He’s been in everybody’s shoes,” said Ramsey in a post on Colorado’s X account. “He’s done things at the highest level, and he’s got so much game that you can soak up. [He’s got] so much experience in the field that everyone wants to be in and that we’re pursuing, so it’s a blessing.”
Ramsey also said the chance to play for Sanders would have changed his own college path. The former Florida State cornerback, who won a National Championship in Tallahassee, said the opportunity would have been hard to pass up.
“I love my college coaches, but man, if I would’ve had the opportunity to be recruited and play for Coach Prime, it would’ve been recruitment over as soon as it started,” Ramsey said.
That kind of praise fits the way Sanders has built his reputation in Boulder. He has already helped develop defensive backs who made it to the NFL, including Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, who went No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft after winning the award. Preston Hodge and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig also reached the league, and both are now teammates of Hunter’s with the Jaguars.
The retreat itself was part of a broader push to reshape leadership inside the program in 2026. Colorado’s 2025 season was derailed when true leaders didn’t really emerge, and the team also dealt with Sanders being away from the program for most of the offseason while he battled cancer. The result was a season-long struggle with chemistry.
Bringing in Ramsey and other former NFL players was meant to help the Buffaloes see what their situation can become if they handle it the right way. If leaders come forward faster this season, Colorado has a chance to avoid the same issues. And with Sanders continuing to draw on his own background to develop players, that work could pay off again when NFL Draft time rolls around.
In Other News...
Coach Prime Still Has One Massive Colorado Decision To Make
Colorados roster has plenty of new faces and a fresh coaching staff heading into the 2026 season, but the biggest questions are still the old familiar kind: who starts, and where. Deion Sanders and his staff have spent the offseason trying to sort out the pieces after adding talent through transfers, and fall camp is expected to bring the first real answers on several spots that will shape how competitive this team can be.
The uncertainty is especially noticeable on defense and up front, where the Buffaloes still need to settle a second cornerback next to Cree Thomas and find the best five-man combination on the offensive line. Those decisions can quietly define a season, and Colorado is approaching camp with enough options to feel hopeful, but not enough clarity to feel settled. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Is Suddenly Winning A Recruiting Fight Fans Know Well
Colorados 2027 recruiting work is starting to look a lot more like the kind of class that can change the conversation around the program. The Buffaloes are up to No. 35 nationally in the latest 247Sports team rankings, a clear step forward from where the 2026 group finished, and theyve done it with 19 verbal commitments already in the fold. Four of those pledges carry four-star status, a sign that Deion Sanders and his staff are not just filling numbers but landing players with real upside.
The bigger takeaway for Colorado is how often it has been able to stay in the fight for names that matter, even when the process does not go perfectly. The Buffs have taken some hits on the trail, but they have also answered with key commitments that keep the class in the Big 12s upper tier, according to national outlets. The next question is whether this momentum can hold through the rest of the cycle, because the difference between a good class and a program-shifting one is usually decided in the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]