The Colorado Buffaloes began their debut season under head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders 3-0; stealing the national spotlight from not only bigger and more storied college football programs and briefly turning Boulder into the center of the American sports scene. Unfortunately for Sanders and the Buffs, the program’s progress ground to a halt before crash-landing with a 4-8 record, complete with coaching drama, a series of injuries, and a near-total inability to block or protect quarterback Shedeur Sanders, whose season ended prematurely with injuries that began to feel all but inevitable.

There’s no question that the Buffaloes’ offensive line is, by far, the weakest part of the team, but on help is on the way in the form of 6’5″, 287-pound tackle Jordan Seaton; the top offensive tackle prospect in the nation, who announced his decision to attend the University of Colorado on live television Thursday.

Shedeur Sanders suffered 52 sacks this season before succumbing to injury, something that Seaton said “will never happen again.”

“You’ve got to believe in Coach Prime,” Seaton explained. “Having the opportunity to play with somebody who has done it at the highest level – gold jacket level – very few can say they did that. I’ve got two Heisman Trophy candidates – Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. They’re amazing. You know how they go.”

Hunter, who plays cornerback and wide receiver, was named the Paul Hornung Award winner on Wednesday as the nation’s most versatile player.

Seaton’s decision was something of a surprise, given that he had posted a graphic on his social media teasing his decision among perceived finalists Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon and Tennessee. Colorado was not on that list, making his announcement even more shocking, if pleasantly so for the Buffaloes.

Deion Sanders’ coaching staff is set to hire Phil Loadholt – former Minnesota Vikings starter and local high-school star at Fountain-Fort Carson – as the team’s new offensive line coach. Loadholt left Oklahoma to accept the job at Colorado, and it’s hard to imagine that Seaton wasn’t made aware of that prior to his decision.

It’s possible that the additions of Seaton and Loadholt – coupled with Deion Sanders’ charisma and Boulder’s newfound mojo – might spur a number of late-period commitments at both the offensive line and quarterback positions. At the very least, adding the nation’s top lineman blows the notion that Deion Sanders and his staff can’t recruit top high-school prospects into smithereens.

Seaton may have said it best himself on Thursday. “If you ain’t rocking with us and you say you’re a ‘dawg’ – you claim you’re a ‘dawg’, why are you not coming to Colorado?”