The Colorado Buffaloes have high hopes for the future as coach Deion Sanders’ arrival has energized the fanbase and program to heights unseen in a long time.
The school sold out its spring football game this weekend, and that excitement should transfer over to Colorado sports betting in the fall.
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Sanders is already getting paid as one of the top coaches in college football, but how quickly can he turn that energy and hope into victories? His $5.5 million salary in year one of his five-year contract puts him on the higher end of today’s coaches.
BetColorado.com — which will offer Colorado sportsbook promos throughout the college season — utilized Sports-reference.com and NBCSports.com to see how coaches with annual salaries higher than Coach Prime fared during their first season as head coach at a Power 5 school. Based on 2022 salaries, Sanders’ $5.5 million ranks 16th just behind UCLA’s Chip Kelly.
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NCAA Coaches Ranked by 2022 Salary
| Coach | 2022 Salary | Year 1 P5 School | Year 1 Record |
| Nick Saban | $11.7M | 1995 Michigan State | 6-5-1 |
| Kirby Smart | $11.25M | 2016 Georgia | 8-5 |
| Dabo Swinney | $10.5M | 2009 Clemson | 9-5 |
| Lincoln Riley | $10M | 2017 Oklahoma | 12-2 |
| Brian Kelly | $9.5M | 2010 Notre Dame | 8-5 |
| Mel Tucker | $9.5M | 2019 Colorado | 5-7 |
| Ryan Day | $9.5M | 2019 Ohio State | 13-1 |
| David Shaw | $8.925M | 2011 Stanford | 11-2 |
| Mario Cristobal | $8.0M | 2018 Oregon | 9-4 |
| Jimbo Fisher | $7.5M | 2010 Florida State | 10-4 |
| Lane Kiffin | $7.25M | 2009 Tennessee | 7-6 |
| Jim Harbaugh | $7.05M | 2007 Stanford | 4-8 |
| James Franklin | $7.0M | 2011 Vanderbilt | 6-7 |
| Pat Fitzgerald | $5.748M | 2006 Northwestern | 4-8 |
| Chip Kelly | $5.6M | 2009 Oregon | 10-3 |
| Deion Sanders | $5.5M | 2023 Colorado | TBD |
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Big Money Produces Big Expectations
The average finish for the 15 coaches above Sanders has been 8-4 in their first seasons, but Sanders inherits a program in dire condition compared to most of those 15 coaches.
The Buffaloes finished 1-11 in 2022, something they hadn’t done since going 1-11 in 2012 during the first season in the Pac-12. And they were 4-8 in 2021 when three-point late-season wins over Oregon State and Washington allowed coach Karl Dorrell to return for last year’s debacle.
Coming off such poor seasons and with so many changes in players and coaches, it might be best to look at how coaches fared coming into similar situations. Colorado sportsbooks are expecting the Buffs to struggle, with their season win total at FanDuel Sportsbook listed at 4.5.
When Jim Harbaugh moved from San Diego, where he had been 29-6 in three seasons, to Stanford in 2007, he took over a team that also had just gone 1-11. The Cardinal had bottomed out under coach Walt Harris after going 5-6 in his first year in 2005.
Under Harbaugh, Stanford slowly built itself back, going 4-8 in his first season and followed that up with 5-7 and 8-5 before breaking through at 12-1 with an Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech after the 2010 season.
Of course, that led to Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL, where he led San Francisco to the Super Bowl in his second season.
Harbaugh has coached his alma mater Michigan since 2015, leading the Wolverines back to prominence with seven bowl trips, five 10-win seasons and a 74-25 record in eight years.
Coming off a College Football Playoff berth, FanDuel Sportsbook Colorado lists Michigan as the fourth best 2023 national title bet at +1000. Georgia is the favorite at +220.
When James Franklin took his first head coaching job at Vanderbilt in 2011, the Commodores were coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons, and Robbie Caldwell was fired after coaching for one season.
Franklin had an immediate impact, leading Vanderbilt to a 6-7 season and the first of three straight bowls. The Commodores had never been to bowls in back-to-back seasons let alone three straight. That led to Franklin’s departure for Penn State, where he now makes $7 million a year and has led the Nittany Lions to a 78-36 record.
Colorado fans will be hoping that Sanders can find similar success quickly and then, unlike Harbaugh and Franklin, he sticks around to lead the Buffaloes back to national prominence.
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