CU Buffs welcome another NFL legend to Boulder for pep talk

The Colorado Buffaloes need a spark. Sitting at 3-5 with just four games left in the 2025 campaign, there’s a lot of question marks surrounding this program and the future of where Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ Buffs are headed in the future.

The final four games of the season are all winnable, and making a bowl game isn’t out of the question for the Buffs. Even if they do sneak into a bowl game with a 6-6 or 7-5 record, would the season still be considered a success for the program, given how well they played last year en route to an Alamo Bowl berth? Or would it be a failure for not building off that great 2024 season?

Nonetheless, this team is looking for some juice following an embarrassing loss against Utah last week, and Coach Prime brought in NFL legend Ray Lewis to try and talk some sense into his guys.

NFL Hall Of Famer Ray Lewis with a wake up call message to the Colorado Football Team:

“If you do not do your part, faith without works is DEAD!” 💯

🎥@DeionSandersJr pic.twitter.com/9F2YESk3LW

— GUCCE🦬🐦‍⬛ (@gucceCU) October 31, 2025

Lewis was questioning the players if they get together outside of designated football times to watch film and put in the extra work with each other. The overarching theme was putting the team before the individual as Lewis tried to instill a sense of camaraderie into the struggling group. Lewis isn’t the first high-profile name to make his way to Boulder this year, as both Randy Moss and Ice Cube have spoken to the team this season.

Prime has been asking for accountability and leadership all season long, and hasn’t gotten it from his players yet. There were leaders all over the field last year, but with most of them gone, there haven’t been enough players to step up into those shoes this season.

Part of the issue with the problem is building a team full of portal players. Everyone knows that Sanders has dipped into the transfer portal more than any other coach in the last three offseasons, but by pairing together a bunch of players at different points in their careers instead of building freshman classes, the camaraderie aspect is lost. These players are playing one season with their teammates, not three or for like some of these traditional powerhouse programs that are dominant year in and year out.

The Buffs have 37 seniors on the roster this year, so there will be a ton of open roster spots to fill in the offseason. With just 13 players committed in the 2026 high school class, there will likely be a lot more players coming to Boulder via the portal. That strategy hasn’t exactly reaped a bunch of dividends this season, so it will be interesting to see how Sanders goes about constructing his roster for next season.

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