Paul Finebaum Savagely Destroys Deion Sanders

Paul Finebaum took a flamethrower to the idea that Deion Sanders and Colorado are elite.

Sanders is now in his second season with the Buffaloes, and it's a bit of a put up or shut up moment for the Colorado head coach.

The 2023 campaign started hot as the Buffs jumped to a 3-0 start. However, the wheels quickly fell off. Colorado finished 1-8 in the team's final nine games to end the season with a 4-8 record.

Will Sanders improve this season? That remains to be seen, but Finebaum is calling out the program and Sanders for not doing anything to deserve the hype.

Will Deion Sanders and Colorado improve in 2024? The team finished 4-8 last season. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Paul Finebaum unleashes on Deion Sanders.

"First of all, he is a celebrity but he’s not a celebrity as a coach. To me, Deion, it’s all about what he did previously and I think that’s why I give him a lot of credit for calling himself Coach Prime. Because that puts the emphasis on being a coach. But listen, he is an industry-created coaching celebrity. What happened last year was generational, but it was mostly forced and created, and it was really in many ways illegitimate," Finebaum said on a recent appearance on "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning," according to Buffs Beat.

The ESPN pundit and SEC expert didn't stop there. Not even close. He had plenty more to say when laying into the Colorado coach.

"He really never beat anyone of consequence, but that didn’t stop us from talking about it. By the way, I’m guilty. I was on those shows as you were. But it felt surreal and I’ll never forget being asked, I think Steven A. Smith asked me in the second week of the season "hey, do you think they’re a playoff team?" I had a hard time answering with a straight face, because I think he had just been out there and he believed in it. But that was never real," Finebaum continued.

Paul Finebaum cut loose on Deion Sanders and the idea Colorado is elite. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

That's about as blunt as it gets when it comes to assessing Deion Sanders and Colorado. Finebaum is also not wrong with his assessment.

Colorado was the center of the college football world to start the season. Every major pregame show was in Boulder, the Buffs dominated the headlines and people were talking like Colorado was unstoppable.

Then, Oregon kicked them in the death and the facade that Deion Sanders and the Buffs were a powerhouse was destroyed. The team never recovered. Finebaum is absolutely correct in his breakdown.

Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com what you think will happen this season with Deion and Colorado.