The Future of CU Football – Part Two

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The Future of Colorado Football – Part Two

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It can certainly be argued that the final two games of CU’s 2025 season are relatively meaningless to the future of the Colorado football program. The Buffs are 3-7, and will not be going bowling. CU’s streak of failing to reach bowl eligibility in consecutive seasons has now reached 20 years (2004-05).

That argument would be fallacious.

While the scores of CU’s games against Arizona State and Kansas State to close out Coach Prime’s third season may not be more than a footnote in future media guides, they are nonetheless very important for the near future trajectory of Colorado football.

For the coaches and players, how the next two games play out, and, for that matter, how the next two months play out, are vital.

Head Coach

There are those who are calling for Coach Prime to be fired, or for him to resign. In his three seasons in Boulder, Coach Prime has a 16-19 record, with two losing seasons and only one bowl appearance.

If anyone you know, or interact with on social media, makes such a suggestion, here’s my advice: Ignore them.

Let’s set aside for the moment all that Coach Prime has done for the University of Colorado since arriving just short of three years ago. Let’s not count the victories over ranked opponents, victories which were non-existent for much of the last two decades. Let’s not count the sold out crowds … the national media attention … the millions of dollars pumped into the local Boulder economy … the increased enrollment numbers.

Let’s talk about the cold, hard reality of what Coach Prime leaving Colorado would look like.

The first and most important question: Who is out there to replace him?

Yes, Coach Prime will leave Colorado at some point. It may be this off-season, if health concerns overtake his desire to stay. He may be gone in three years, or perhaps five.

The day will come when CU will have to find another head coach.

We just have to hope that it’s not this off-season.

The turnover in the Power Four ranks this year is unusual, both in terms of timing and volume. With the 2025 season still in full swing, there are already nine Power Four schools looking for new head coaches. The worry for the Buff Nation, should Coach Prime retire, is where CU would fit into the pecking order of attractiveness to potential new head coaches.

Let’s take the openings from the “Power Two” conferences off the table, as the budget for those schools includes twice the media payouts as are received by schools in the ACC and Big 12 ($60-$70 million per year v. $30-40 million in the Big 12 and ACC). The future outlook for Power Two conference schools, both near and distant, is clearly better than those who are not in the Power Two. So, we can take for granted that the head coaching jobs at Penn State, LSU, Florida, Arkansas and Auburn are going to be more attractive to potential candidates.

Then what about the other openings: Oklahoma State; Stanford; Virginia Tech; and UCLA?

While Buff fans tend to see the world through black-and-gold colored glasses, the reality is that, arguably, the potential upside for all four of these schools is greater than it is for CU. All four programs, whether through their athletic department or the University as a whole, have pledged significant increases in budgets for their football programs.

It’s doubtful that the absence of Coach Prime will bring about anything but a decrease in revenue for CU football.

Without Coach Prime, many of CU’s star players will leave. It’s not a certainty, but it’s not hard to envision that CU’s outside money for NIL, new recruits, and Transfer Portal candidates will take a significant hit, and with it will be CU’s ability to pay its existing players, not to mention trying to bring in new ones.

Without money to recruit, CU’s next head coach will be a decided disadvantage. The program may not immediately regress to Karl Dorrell levels, but it will be regarded nationally as a rebuild, not a reload.

Colorado: Tenth out of ten Power Four coach openings in terms of attractiveness to potential new head coaches?

With an outgoing athletic director having to make the decision?

I don’t like the sound of that.

Simply put, CU can’t afford to lose Coach Prime.

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Assistant Coaches

This will be an interesting watch, both in the next few weeks, and in the next few months.

After the West Virginia loss, Coach Prime confirmed that changes were coming.

“I wish we didn’t have a bye [next week],” Coach Prime said after the West Virginia game. “I want to keep working. We’ll probably work them [the team] until Thursday and then let them go. I want to see them study more. Prepare more because you’ve got to make some decisions. They have to make some decisions in the offseason. From here on out, it’s really roster and coach management, understanding what we’re going to do going forward. But I promise you, there’s going to be some changes.”

That sounds enticing for those who are looking for changes in the coaching staff, believing the NFL-centric model of the past few seasons isn’t translating into success on the field.

But be careful what you wish for … It might just come true.

What is concerning about changing for change’s sake is that this pattern hasn’t worked well for Coach Prime. It has been widely reported that offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has been relieved of his play-calling duties, but that change hasn’t been a panacea.

In Coach Prime’s six years as a college football head coach, he has swapped out the coach vested with play-calling duties four times, including twice now at Colorado.

Two years ago, Buff fans were up in arms about the play-calling of Sean Lewis, Coach Prime’s first offensive coordinator. Lewis came to Boulder voluntarily taking a demotion, having been a successful head coach at Kent State. After being run out of town, Lewis was again hired as a head coach, this time at San Diego State. Before a loss at Hawai’i last weekend, Lewis had the Aztecs looking like a potential candidate for the G6 slot in the College Football Playoff.

Who Coach Prime brings in as his new assistant coaches, and their ability to work with and develop the likes of Julian Lewis, remain a goal of paramount importance these next two months.

Speaking of Julian Lewis …

The Players 

How important is Julian Lewis to the success of the CU football program the next few seasons?

Retaining Lewis on the roster is of such significance that the first part of this three part series, “The Future of CU Football“, is devoted to CU’s all-time highest rated quarterback recruit.

While keeping Lewis on the roster, both for morale as well as national opinion of the program, is vital, there are others who must be retained.

As noted in “The Future of CU Football – Part One”, the watchword for Coach Prime and his staff the next two months is “Retention. Retention. Retention”.

Yes, many of the players on the current roster have not played as well as hoped, but CU can’t afford to keep churning through its roster every off-season, hoping that the new mix of players will be better than the last.

There are a number of one-and-done players on the 2025 Colorado roster. From quarterback Kaidon Salter, to running backs Simeon Price and Dekalon Taylor, to offensive linemen Zylon Crisler, Xavier Hill, and Zarian McGill, to kickoff specialist Buck Buchanan, there are players who we already know who will not be back for the 2026 season.

Of the 102 players on the roster, 33 are in their final year of eligibility. That leaves 69 players that could come back next year, with 23 of those being walk-ons.

So, there are 46 scholarship players who could come back. CU – as well as those players – have decisions to make.

CU had 57 out-going transfers prior to Coach Prime’s first season in Boulder. A year later, in 2024, there were 41 out-going transfers. This past offseason, there were 33.

Based on that pattern, CU is likely to see perhaps half of those 69 players jump into the transfer portal.

If that were to be the case, CU could have 40 or more new scholarship players in 2026.

Let’s set aside the walk-ons. What is really important is for CU to hang on to a strong core out of the 46 scholarship players who have eligibility remaining.

We know that Coach Prime isn’t going to flood the roster with freshmen. With a month to go before Signing Day, the Buffs have 12 commitments from the Class of 2026. “I would be a fool to go out there and get 30 freshmen when statistics show me that within two years half those kids are probably gone”, Coach Prime said this past week.

Translation: CU will dip heavily into the Transfer Portal this off-season.

But having the team be made up of more than half new players year-in and year-out is not a sustainable model.

Contributors in 2025 who need to be prioritized (those with significant starting experience in bold) …

• Quarterback … Julian Lewis;
• Running backs … Take your pick: Micah Welch; Dallan Hayden; Kam Mikell and Dre’lon Miller all have eligibility remaining;
• Wide receivers … Omarion Miller; Joseph Williams; Quentin Gibson; Quannell Farrakahn Jr.; Isaiah Hardge
• Tight ends … Zach Atkins; Corbin Laisure;
• Offensive linemen … Jordan Seaton;  Larry Johnson III; Yahya Attia; Andre Roye Jr.;
• Defensive linemen … Arden Walker; London Merritt; Brandon Davis-Swain; Alexander McPherson; Jehiem Oatis
• Linebackers … Buffs are starting over here. All the players on the two-deep are seniors;
• Cornerbacks … D.J. McKinney; RJ Johnson; Makari Vickers;
• Safety/Nickel … Tawfiq Byard; Carter Stoutmire; John Slaughter;
• Specialists … Damon Greaves (P);

From the list, there is a nucleus of a decent roster for 2026. On offense, if Julian Lewis returns, he could have plenty of skill positions with which to play, but the offensive line will need to be rebuilt … again.

On the defensive side, the defensive line – if it can keep its starters healthy – has talent, as does the defensive backfield. The linebackers? Just like last off-season, that unit will be a complete rebuild.

It’s unlikely that CU will be able to hang on to all of the above potential starters. Some may argue that, based upon the results on the field in 2025, many should be allowed to leave.

But, if Coach Prime is going to restore a winning program – a winning tradition – at Colorado, the majority of those listed above need to return.

Arguably, a vast majority of those players need to return.

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Regardless of how Colorado fares in its final two games of the 2025 season, the off-season narrative for CU is already being written. Clip and save, and check out the CU previews in Athlon and Lindy’s next June:

“Coach Prime can’t build a winning program in Boulder … Coach Prime has a losing record as a Power Four head coach, and all indicators are that the Buffs will have another losing record in 2026 … Colorado finished in the bottom quadrant in the Big 12 in 2025, and will again in 2026 … The magic is gone in Boulder; having left when Shedeur and Travis moved on”.

The only way for Colorado football to break this cycle of losing is to:

• a) keep Coach Prime – and keep him healthy;
• b) find the right combination of assistant coaches, with emphasis on finding an offensive coordinator who can develop Julian Lewis;
• c) retain core talent from the 2025 roster. Julian Lewis and Jordan Seaton are indispensable, but there are other stars and potential stars who must return; and
• d) hit more than miss in the Transfer Portal, especially along the offensive line and at linebacker.

That’s a big ask. But if CU is to have a long term future at the Big Boy table in college football in the next decade, the ship needs to start turning in the right direction in the near future.

The very near future.

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— Previously posted: “The Future of Colorado Football – Part One: Julian Lewis”

— To be posted Sunday: “The Future of Colorado Football – Part Three: 2030”

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This post, about the Arizona State game, from the 2025 Season, is filed under Article.
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