Credit athletic director Rick George for learning his lesson and doing the polar opposite this time in setting a new course for Colorado football.

And I do mean the absolute polar opposite end of the spectrum possible.

Karl Dorrell and Deion Sanders couldn't be more different as head coach hires for the Buffaloes, and after Dorrell's tenure bottomed out into the ultimate nadir for this program in just two and a half seasons, the AD shouldered all of the scrutiny.

Part of the appeal for George with Dorrell, who was 13 years removed from his middling UCLA head coaching tenure when Colorado came calling, was that Dorrell already owned a home in Boulder and would want to be there long-term, as the Buffs had just seen Mel Tucker bolt after one season.

With Sanders, there's no telling how long the Buffs will keep him in Boulder, but that's not a negative. Instead of an uninspiring Pac-12 retread who would be happy to hang around if things happened to work out, Colorado has now attached itself to a rising star who just might be able to lift this program along with his own skyrocketing trajectory. If that means he jumps to the SEC or another job in a few years -- calm down, I'm just saying IF -- it will only be because he's done what he was hired to do here.

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Dorrell is a nice man, but under his watch top talent was exiting the program through the transfer portal at an alarming rate, positioning the Buffs for what happened this fall as they finished as one of just two Power 5 teams to go 1-11.

Sanders, meanwhile, is a talent magnet. He brings his own pull wherever he goes. That he managed to sign the No. 1-ranked prospect in the country last recruiting cycle, landing five-star ATH Travis Hunter at Jackson State, as well as four-star WR and top-50 national prospect Kevin Coleman, was one of the biggest recruiting stories in recent memory.

The potential for what he can now do at a Power 5 program in the Pac-12, one that already recruits heavily in Texas where Sanders -- the former Dallas Cowboys star -- happens to have a massive profile, is at the moment immeasurable in the best meaning of the word.

Could he turn the Buffs from arguably the worst Power 5 team in the country to an instant winner in his first season? It certainly seems at least possible, right?

We'll find out quickly over these next few weeks as the transfer portal opens for all players Monday (to this point only grad transfers and players whose coaches were fired could formally enter the portal) and the early signing period for high school recruits looms on Dec. 21.

One can assume Sanders will be bringing with him his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who just led Jackson State to a 12-0 record while completing 70 percent of his passes for 3,403 yards, 36 touchdowns and 6 interceptions along with 5 rushing touchdowns.