The Buffs are just five Saturdays away from opening their highly-anticipated first season with head coach Deion Sanders and the new Colorado staff.

At this time, defensive coordinator Charles Kelly can’t pinpoint exactly how the Buffs will look Sept. 2 in Fort Worth when they face TCU. However, after assembling the building blocks during the offseason, the foundations of a strong group are beginning to form.

“I’ll tell you the players have worked extremely hard,” Kelly said last week at Pac-12 Media Day in Las Vegas. “Even the new guys that weren’t here in the spring, they’ve jumped in. I believe those players, they’re going to do what you expect them to do or what you demand that they do.”

There hasn’t been a shortage of demands this summer with the players undergoing intensive workouts and training. Five-star freshman Cormani McClain threw up seven times during one day of summer conditioning. Each player is finding his own way to acclimate to new demands and assignments, but a handful of them continue to make strong impressions.

Beyond the initial vomiting, McClain’s ability on the field is one worth noting. Of course, as the freshman experience goes, growing pains are inevitable entering into a college system. Through more time, teaching and work in the weight room, his five-star abilities will flourish to make way for an impactful contributor to Colorado’s secondary — potentially as early as this fall.

“I think Cormani’s done some really good things, but he’s got a ways to go before his body is ready to play,” Kelly said. “I want to say that it may be two weeks, it may be four.”

For Alabama transfers LB Demouy Kennedy and CB Jahquez Robinson, their transitions into a new system have been aided by the familiarly they have previously playing in Kelly’s scheme.