Jul 312 min read

Colorado Buffaloes Undergo Intense First Day of Practice

Preparations for Year 2 of head coach Deion Sanders' era in Colorado got underway Monday, and the common thread was intensity along with more pressure to win now.

The Buffaloes are coming off a slow start in Year 1 with Sanders as coach. Colorado finished 4-8 in its last Pac-12 Conference season. Now, Sanders prepares to lead the Buffaloes into their first year in the Big 12 Conference.

Sanders did stress how important it is to win this season. "We don't have tomorrow, we don't have the next day or next year," he said in his comments to Buffaloes players last Sunday. "We have now. I mean, right now. We need to do what we need to do right now, but let me tell you this. If you show me you don't want this, I'm gonna show you I don't want you."

Associate head coach Gary Harrell talked about Colorado's greater expectations for this season. "The expectation is the expectation," Harrell said of Sanders. "His expectation is now. We’re not waiting for Year 3 to win. We’re not waiting for midseason for everything to click. It has to happen now.

"So he has that 'now' approach, where every day he comes into work, his mentality, his thought process, his message and philosophy is the same," Harrell said. "He don’t deviate from that.”

Colorado Changes Offensive Line

One of the most significant areas of change for Colorado involves its offensive line. This definitely was an area of weakness last season. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders found himself scrambling a lot when protection failed up front.

Linebacker Trevor Woods is touting his team's improved offensive line. "We’ve still got to see with the pads,” Woods said. “We definitely have a better O-line; I mean it’s a whole new O-line right now.”

Woods pointed out that unit's better chemistry between them. Long snapper Camden Dempsey looks to build off of last season's play.

"But then our older guys, too, are showing that we’ve got a really good foundation that we’re able to build off of," Dempsey said. "That’s been really fun to watch, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. We’ve still got what, 30 days left of camp, and it’s only to go up from here.”

Buffaloes Face Pressure to Win

Deion Sanders wants to win now. The pressure is there, too. He's putting it on his coaches and players to follow through. In the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Media Poll, Colorado placed 11th out of 18 teams.

Practices have been, and will continue to be, intense at Colorado.

Dempsey talked about heightened Year 2 expectations under his head coach. "This year, everyone knows that we’re there for a purpose," he said. "We’ve got 12 games and everyone knows that we need to be laser-focused on that Big 12 championship and then onto the national championship.”

Colorado opens its season against North Dakota State on August 29th at Folsom Field.