Colorado's Deion Sanders: 2023 Was 'Season of Hope,' 2024 Is 'Season of Expectation'

Deion Sanders' first season at Colorado was one that began with plenty of hype and hope but that ultimately ended with a whimper.

Sanders' Buffaloes captured the imagination of the college football world following an electric start to his tenure with wins over TCU, Nebraska and an overtime thriller against Colorado State.

The program ended just winning one more game all season and endured several ugly losses.

But Sanders believes the bet is yet to come.

"This was a season of hope," Sanders said while appearing on Amazon's Thursday Night Football pregame show. "... But next year is a season of expectation."

Sanders' squad was led by a handful transfers from his time at Jackson State as well as other FBS programs, namely his son Shedeur as well as former five-star recruit Travis Hunter.

While the Buffalos' skill players were great, they lacked physicality on defense and in the trenches. It's what cost them when they came up against some tougher competition like Oregon, USC and others.

Nonetheless, Sanders led a major improvement to a program that had won just one game the season prior and breathed life into a community that had loss some hope in the football team.

Sanders also went on to emphasize that he and his staff are recruiting "our butts off." He has been known as a master recruiter in the past but this year's recruiting cycle has left something to be desired.

Colorado currently has the No. 64 ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to 247 sports composite. The program also loss some recruits earlier in the week as 2024 three-star quarterback Danny O'Neil and Class of 2025 three-star running back Jamarice Walker withdrew their commitments Monday.

That came just one day after 2025 quarterback four-star recruit Antwann Hill decommitted.

So, Sanders definitely has his work cut out for him ahead of early signing day on Dec. 20.