CJ Sadler is set to announce his college decision August 15th.
Let’s kick things off with a buffet of all things CU football: we’ll start with a heavy appetizer of recruiting nibbles, a main course of Coach Mac-news, some new uniform dessert, and various quick hitters to close it out.
Recruiting Updates (Yes, We’re Still Recruiting Everyone)
The Buffs are probably busier right now recruiting “flip” commits than uncommitted prospects at this junction, but we’ll look at both categories here.
Uncommitted Prospects:
• CJ Sadler (ATH, four-star on 247)
Sadler, who plays his prep ball at storied Cass Tech in Detroit, is a cover-man/playmaker who can live on the boundary and play in the slot. North Carolina is trending, but Colorado is very much in it. Sadler is a national-level recruit with the kind of athletic profile that puts him in the top 100 players in his class nationally. CU’s best chance is to sell the “Travis Hunter Experience,” where Sadler has the chance to play both offense and defense. Sadler is announcing August 15th. It’s possible CU ends up 2nd on this one, but then we simply move this one to the “Flip Watch” below.
• Joseph Peko (DL, three-star on 247)
Peko plays with leverage, is a natural anchor, and has hands that pop on contact. Colorado and North Carolina are his final two, but insiders like CU’s chances for reasons that seem obvious — his dad is CU defensive line coach Domato Peko Sr., and his brother, Domato Peko Jr., has already committed to CU. Joseph Peko is a developmental DL with real upside.
• Mark Holloway (IOL, three-star on 247)
Florida interior line prospect (CU has really, really hit Florida OL recruiting hard this off-season) with a square build and a sturdy base. The run game fit is obvious. CU probably leads here. One scout noted that Holloway has a “multi-year starter ceiling if the pass-pro feet keep coming.” Has a real nasty streak, too.
Flip Watch (Committed Elsewhere but Eyes are Wandering….)
• Dijidou Bah — Wisconsin DL commit (three-star on 247)
Edge/3-tech tweener; can play stand-up on early downs and reduce in the sub package to chase interior gaps. High school rating sits in that “stock rising after camp/showcase circuit” band. Wisconsin made a smart early move; CU has kept the door cracked open. If his senior tape reflects his spring testing, this is the kind of late-cycle tug-of-war that Deion Sanders usually wins.
• Kaleb Morris — Mississippi State DL commit (three-star on 247)
Long-frame trench player is probably a 5-tech. He plays square, sets an edge, and compresses run lanes. Once he adds 10–15 pounds of functional strength, the power will show up more consistently. If Mississippi State’s season wobbles or staff dynamics shift, circle this one.
• Christopher Talley — West Virginia RB commit (three-star on 247)
Whitehaven (Memphis) back with one-cut vision and a slasher’s mentality. Not a track star but plays with speed. He accelerates through arm tackles and carries momentum into contact. His rankings are in the mid-tier three-star RB neighborhood but with a lot of senior production that will change. Staff really likes him.
• Brayden Allen — Tulane WR commit (three-star on 247)
Body control WR who wins with his large frame and with great hands. His high school ranking sits in the “priority G5/high-major watch list” band; that usually means the right P4 fit can peel a kid if there’s rapport. CU has kicked the tires here.
• Ben Duncum — Kentucky DL/EDGE commit (three-star on 247)
Prototype frame and awful name combo. Hands are heavy and he doesn’t get stuck on blocks for long. 247 pegs him as a solid multi-front end with upside if the bend keeps improving. This is one to monitor.
• Bryan Hamilton — Pitt WR commit (three-star on 247)
Tampa-area wideout with real burst and a slot/YAC toolkit. He’s got a bit of that Quentin Gibson juice. 247 sits him in the mid-three-star range but he’s picking up fresh attention late. CU’s room has mixed archetypes lately; Hamilton’s a clean slot complement to the longer outside bodies.
Coach Mac to Get His Flowers (Properly)
The program is finally going all-in on honoring Bill McCartney, and it’s overdue. The most visible thing you’ll notice: a commemorative MAC patch on the jerseys. It will be a small black circle with silver “MAC” lettering, sitting on the front shoulder. It’s subtle in the way a good tribute should be, and it mirrors Deion Sanders’ own public urging that programs ought to honor legends.
There’s more. Later this season, the school will unveil a statue of McCartney alongside the Buff Walk outside Folsom. The figure itself will be big (roughly 8.5 feet tall) and it’ll sit on a granite base. Having been to many, many college stadiums that honor their legends better than CU does, this statute is a good start at rectrifying the issue.
There’s also a scholarship endowment being put together in his name, which feels right. McCartney passed in January at age 84. For younger fans (or fans that joined when Deion Sanders was named head coach), welcome, and know that Bill McCartney is a CU legend that stared down Nebraska and didn’t blink, was the architect of the 1990 national title, and was the personality that convinced an entire state to dream larger.
Uniform Corner
CU’s official colors are silver and gold, with black a sort of permanent house guest (a Rodell “House” Guest, if you will). I will die on the hill that silver should show up more often. Enter NewEraBuffs on X, a CU fan and graphic designer who’s been churning out some slick jersey concepts. One of my favorites is this one
I’m not saying that we need to ditch the classic uniforms, but these are clean. Go follow NewEraBuffs on X – he’s doing good work and deserve the follow. And let’s make these silver jerseys a reality.
Ford Practice Facility
Colorado inked a seven-year naming deal that – POOF — turns the indoor practice facility into the Ford Practice Facility.
How much are the naming rights worth? CU hasn’t said.
Schools rarely publicize hard numbers for practice-facility rights, and it varies wildly based on market, visibility, and whether it’s a philanthropic surname or a corporate brand. As a rough range based on comparable deals around college athletics, indoor/practice naming tends to land somewhere in the low seven figures per year for corporate-branded agreements, and lower for philanthropic namings (often a one-time gift attached to a campaign).
For a seven-year, corporate-style package in a power conference and media market like Boulder/Denver, a reasonable guess is in the ballpark of $750k–$1.25M annually, with escalators and in-kind value (vehicle fleet, community programs) sweetening the pot.
Hey, an extra $1 million per year isn’t bad. But when are we doing stadium naming rights? We think it could be worth $4m+ per year – seriously, check out https://buffsblog.com/stadium-naming-rights-how-the-big-bucks-or-lack-thereof-affect-cu/ for much more on what CU should expect from stadium naming rights.
National Perspectives
• CU received one measly vote in the AP Top 25. Ranked in the top 25 were Big 12 teams Arizona State (#11), Kansas State (#17), Iowa State (#22), Texas Tech (#23). Other teams receiving more votes than CU were BYU, Utah and TCU. Thus, the AP effectively predicts that CU will finish 8th this year in the Big 12.
• RJ Young at Fox Sports has Colorado ranked at #25 in his “Ultimate 136,” and he’s firmly in the “this can work” camp. Young leans towards the “over” with CU predicted to win 5.5 games, and believes the Georgia Tech game in week 1 is the tone-setter. FOX Sports
• ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg came through Boulder and came away parroting Deion Sander’s mantra for 2025: “win differently.” This translates to being more physical and actually running the ball, with Kaidon Salter’s legs as the key and a committee approach at receiver post-Tavis Hunter. ESPN.com
• ESPN’s Big 12 preview drops CU into the “in the running” tier behind Arizona State but very much in the cluster that can play in the Big 12 championship game if things break right. Still, they have CU predicted to finish 10th. ESPN notes that JuJu Lewis and Carde Smith are two of the three freshmen to watch in the Big 12. ESPN.com
• CBS Sports calls CU’s schedule a gauntlet and ranks CU’s slate the fifth-toughest in the Big 12. The killer run, per CBS Sports, is BYU, TCU, Iowa State, and Utah in succession. Meh. CBSSports.com
• From the ACC side, CBS Sports frames week 1 from Georgia Tech’s lens: “getting past Colorado on the road will not be easy,” but the Yellow Jackets “have fewer questions” than the Buffs right now.” Meh. CBSSports.com
Those silver unis and helmets are easily superior to the gray garbage CU has trotted out and even the sickly all-white paratrooper “cringe.”
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