Coach Prime doesn’t want to ‘play musical chairs’ with quarterback carousel against Houston

Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders said on Tuesday that he doesn't want to keep playing musical chairs with his quarterbacks ahead of CU's conference opener against Houston

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

Sep 9, 2025, 1:31 PM

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The Colorado Buffaloes have a glaring quarterback question to answer. After Ryan Staub stole the show in Saturday’s win against the Delaware Blue Hens, Coach Prime and the Buffs now have three quarterbacks to choose from as the starter going forward, rather than the two that most originally thought the competition was between.

All summer, the battle under center was between veteran Kaidon Salter and true freshman Julian Lewis. On Saturday, Prime added another variable to the equation with Staub — who took full advantage of his moment — and he now has to decide between which of the three quarterbacks he wants to lead his offense going forward. Conference play begins on Friday, so this program doesn’t exactly have a lot of time to figure it out.

PRIME REFUTES STAUB REPORT

Reports early on Tuesday indicated that Staub was expected to start Friday’s contest against Houston, but Prime refuted that claim in his weekly press conference just hours later.

“I’m not confirming nothing to y’all, y’all know that,” Prime said on Tuesday. “We ain’t like that. We good. We have capable guys, Staub has been doing a phenomenal job and getting a majority of the reps, but I haven’t made that assessment and decision yet.”

Videos from practice earlier in the week can confirm that Staub was working with the 1’s, but in classic Deion Sanders fashion, he’s not going to show his cards until the last possible moment. The fact that he has to make this decision this week also complicates things, as this is the only “short” week of the season for the black and gold ahead of a Friday night showdown.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUARTERBACK

What’s Coach Prime looking for in his signal caller then? He’s got three fairly different options between a season veteran, a true freshman and a longtime backup who’s been around the program for three seasons. While it’s probably not Lewis’ time yet (that’s okay, he’s supposed to be a senior in high school right now), the decision will likely be the difference between winning 5-6 games or 8-9 games.

He started off by emphasizing that what the team thinks isn’t always correct, and the right choice boils down to what the coaching staff thinks.

“It’s got to be what we as coaches have come to conclusion what best fits us for where we’re headed,” Prime said. “That’s how we kind of accumulate that decision and understand that leadership is involved, understanding the totality of the offense is involved, and being able to do some things that are off script. When the play breaks down, come on man, what you got? I feel like a quarterback has to make three plays on his own a game.”

PUSHING THE CHIPS TO THE MIDDLE

Is Prime and his coaching staff going to be able to land on just one quarterback going forward? At some point, the constant rotation of the signal callers can mess up the chemistry of the offense. The receivers are catching a different ball every day, the center is hearing a different cadence every day, and it takes away time that the offense could be spending growing as one.

“That’s the goal. I don’t want to play musical chairs with quarterbacks. Why would I want to come to the game and do that? It’s like spinning the darn wheel… I wasn’t good at roulette. I would put everything on 21 black any day. You better believe that. I don’t want to put them on three numbers man I want one thing. Hopefully we get to that point,” Prime said.

If a decision isn’t made and stuck with soon, the coaching staff is essentially going to be playing roulette with the fate of the season for the Buffs. There isn’t time for rebuilding in this era of college football, especially with a coach who is one of the highest-paid leaders in the country.

Even though the Buffs don’t have an established starter yet, Prime is still pleased with what he’s seen out of his offense.

“I’m proud of where we are offensively but we’re improving, to me, every week. We getting better and better.”