Sure, people get into the numbers and stats of college football teams. It’s fun to watch these players each week and see some of them rise to greatness in the NFL. But, when it comes to college football, grades mean something, because most of these players will never be in the NFL. Even great players in college often don’t make it into the NFL. So, grades count, even if they don’t get the press they deserve.
Colorado Buffaloes’ Deion Sanders and Academics
It’s pretty incredible to see the Colorado Buffaloes‘ program progress over the past few years. They went from a one-win team two years ago to a 9-4 team in 2024 under the direction of Deion Sanders. He really helped take the Buffaloes to the next level, and the team finished fourth in the 2024 Big 12 college football standings. They were even in the running to make it to the conference championship game and College Football Playoff until the final week of the regular season.
But, it doesn’t stop there. Sure, Sanders helped make the team do well on the field, but something he’s doing is also working off the field. Director of player personnel James Chaney has revealed the team’s cumulative GPA, and it shows that Sanders is really getting good grades both when it comes to his team’s performance on the field and in the classroom.
On Tuesday, January 15, Chaney said that Colorado’s football team earned a cumulative GPA better than 3.0 for the first time in program history. He took to social media to announce the good news.
“For the first time in CU Football history our team gpa was over a 3.0,” he exclaimed.
We have to give major props to Sanders for making sure his players take school seriously. College courses are no joke, and that’s a darn good GPA average.
He almost made the mark last year, too. Per to Scott Procter at the Coloradoan, in Sanders’ first year as head coach with program, in 2023, the Buffaloes ended the school year with a cumulative GPA of 2.932.
Deion Sanders Talks Education
Sanders has often talked about how important it is for players to work hard in the classroom. Before the 2024 college football season, Sanders talked about the importance of education in his football program.
“I’m judged on a different scale,” Sanders said, according to W.G. Ramirez of the Associated Press in July 2024. “My wins are totally different than your wins. Your wins, you just judge football, that’s why I start out (talking about) education and academics and so forth. I have to give you those things so you understand there’s a greater scope.”
Sanders also said that he wants his team to win both in athletics and academics.
“I can’t win nine games and our GPA suffers,” Sanders said. “Our GPA can’t be high and we lose another eight games.”
He added, “We can’t not go and grab high school players, and you’ve got a bunch of guys in the portal, out of the portal, getting incarcerated. My wins are different. We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged.”