The Colorado Buffaloes football program is wasting no time shaking things up as it heads into the 2026 season. With a string of losing campaigns—broken up only by a nine-win year highlighted by a Heisman Trophy winner in 2024—head coach Deion Sanders, famously known as Coach Prime, is overhauling his staff and instilling a new culture of discipline. The stakes are higher than ever in Boulder, both on the field and in the locker room, with Sanders introducing a controversial fine system and actively searching for fresh coaching talent to reverse the team’s fortunes.
After a disappointing 3-9 finish in 2025, Sanders has already made sweeping changes to his coaching staff. The Buffaloes are currently in the market for a new special teams coordinator, a position that has seen significant turnover. According to FootballScoop, Sanders has spoken with multiple candidates as he seeks the right fit for this crucial role. Michael Pollock, who served as special teams coordinator in 2025, was originally brought on as an analyst in 2024 and previously worked with Sanders at Jackson State, where the duo enjoyed unprecedented success. But after a season in which Colorado ranked 109th nationally in net punting (37.19 yards per punt) and allowed four blocked kicks, it’s clear Sanders is looking for a new direction.
Pollock’s journey with Sanders began back in 2021 at Jackson State, a proud HBCU program that soared to new heights with Sanders at the helm. Pollock, who has a decorated 20-year coaching career at the high school level in Georgia, was one of the first calls Sanders made upon landing the Jackson State job. Their partnership continued when Sanders took over at Colorado in December 2022, with Pollock joining the Buffaloes’ staff and eventually being elevated to special teams coordinator. Despite their shared history, the Buffaloes’ special teams performance in 2025 left much to be desired, prompting another round of staff changes.
Colorado’s struggles last season weren’t limited to special teams. The Buffaloes started the year with a 3-4 record, only to collapse with a five-game losing streak that sealed their seventh losing season in the past eight years. In the aftermath, Sanders made another bold move by hiring Brennan Marion as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Marion becomes the third person to hold the position in Sanders’s four-year tenure, following Sean Lewis and Pat Shurmur. Shurmur, a seasoned NFL veteran, was demoted during the 2025 season as Colorado’s offense sputtered.
The coaching carousel didn’t stop there. Veteran analyst Josh Conklin departed for a position on James Franklin’s staff at Virginia Tech earlier this month, while top personnel staffer Corey Phillips left to become general manager for first-year Memphis coach Charles Huff. These exits mark a period of significant transition for Colorado, as Sanders seeks to build a staff capable of delivering on the high expectations he’s set for the program.
But perhaps the most eye-catching development this offseason is Sanders’s introduction of a new fine system aimed at instilling discipline and accountability among his players. The system, which was partially revealed in a team meeting video posted on Well Off Media—a YouTube channel run by Deion Sanders Jr.—lays out steep penalties for attendance violations and misconduct. According to a spokesperson for CU Boulder, the fines are strictly based on team rules and are not tied to player performance or NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) agreements.
The fine structure is as follows: players who are late to practice face a $500 penalty, while those who miss practice entirely are hit with a $2,500 fine. Tardiness to meetings or film sessions results in a $400 fine, and a no-show carries a $2,000 penalty. If a player is late to a strength and conditioning workout, that’s another $1,000, and skipping the session costs $1,500. The same fines apply to treatment sessions, underscoring Sanders’s emphasis on player health and preparation. For more serious violations—such as public or social media misconduct—players could be fined up to $5,000, depending on the severity.
CU Boulder clarified that these fines are not deducted from players’ NIL payments. "A player is not going to have money withheld from their NIL payments in order to fulfill a fine," the university confirmed. The fines are meant solely to enforce team rules and expectations, as opposed to serving as a performance-based penalty. While the video did not show Sanders explicitly addressing the fines, the message was clear: discipline and accountability are non-negotiable under Coach Prime’s regime.
This no-nonsense approach has sparked plenty of discussion among fans and analysts alike. Some see it as a necessary step to turn around a program that has struggled to find its footing in recent years. Others question whether such hefty fines are appropriate in the college sports landscape, where players’ financial situations can vary widely. Regardless, the move underscores Sanders’s commitment to changing the culture at Colorado, even if it means ruffling a few feathers along the way.
Looking ahead, the Buffaloes face a challenging schedule as they prepare for Year 4 under Sanders. The season opener is set for September 5, 2026, on the road against Georgia Tech—a team that kicked off the 2025 season with a win in Boulder. Colorado will then return home to host Weber State, a Football Championship Subdivision program, before traveling to face Northwestern, another Power Conference opponent. Big 12 Conference play begins September 12 at Baylor, followed by a marquee home matchup against reigning Big 12 champion and College Football Playoff quarterfinalist Texas Tech on October 3.
With a retooled coaching staff, a renewed focus on discipline, and a roster eager to prove itself, the Colorado Buffaloes are entering the 2026 season with plenty of questions—and perhaps just as much hope. Can Coach Prime’s tough-love approach and relentless drive finally deliver the turnaround Buffaloes fans have been waiting for? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for certain: all eyes will be on Boulder when the new season kicks off in September.
For now, the Buffaloes are hard at work, laying the groundwork for what they hope will be a new era of success. The road ahead won’t be easy, but with Deion Sanders at the helm, you can bet it won’t be boring, either.