CU football notes: Buffs ready to kick off preseason camp

Heading into a week-long break before the start of preseason camp, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders knew the value of that time off.
“It’s extremely important to get your rest,” he said at an event for Gatorade in Denver on July 24. “You’ve got to have time for a break, you’ve got to have time to mentally break, physically break.”
Sanders was also eager for that break to be over, and as of Tuesday it is officially over. The Buffaloes reported for fall camp on Tuesday and will conduct their first practice of the preseason on Wednesday.
“I’m excited just to go at it,” Sanders said. “Basically just prove to the team, because this is the first time all of us have gotten in pads together. It’s just going out there and proving myself daily, proving the player I am, just to my teammates. They believe already but it’s just establishing to them.”
This is a new-look Colorado team, which has been well documented.
A year ago, the Buffs went 1-11 and got blown out in many of the losses. After hiring Deion Sanders – Shedeur’s father – as head coach in December, the Buffs have gone through a major roster overhaul.
There are 117 players on the CU roster, including walk-ons, and only 29 of them were on the team a year ago. Only 10 scholarship players remain from the 2022 squad.
With 88 newcomers – 59 of which arrived this summer and have yet to go through an official practice with the Buffs – it will be a work in progress. But, Sanders was pleased with the work that took place this summer.
“Big difference (from the spring), just weight room and running,” he said. “That’s been the biggest difference and just taking a deep dive and focusing on that going into this year.”
Asked if guys are buying into the new program, he said, “Yeah, you don’t really have a choice. If you’re not, you’re gonna get left behind. Everybody has that mindset. Everybody has that mentality. So it’s just about showcasing it on the first game.”
At Pac-12 media day in July, Sanders added that he’s seen the team gel this summer, which isn’t surprise, because he’s never known a team that wasn’t close by the time the season rolled around.
“We know the job at hand. We know what we’ve got to accomplish so it’s, like, it’s gonna work,” he said. “I’ve never felt what a loose team feels like so it just feels like a regular team to me. Every team I play on and every guy I’m around, it’s a real bond. So it’s hard to explain what wouldn’t be a bond because it’s always been a bond, like every team I’ve been on.”
Sanders said he really felt that bond during one of the last workouts before the break.
“We’re in there, we got everybody to come around me and just huddle me while I’m going in my squat,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Man, this just feels surreal, like a real, real team now.’ I feel like it’s all bringing us together just going through hard things and just being able to relate to different things.”
Together again
CU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly is working with a lot of players he’s never coached, but there are two key Buffs that he knows well.
Linebacker Demouy Kennedy and defensive back Jahquez Robinson both played for Kelly at Alabama the past two years. Both were primarily backups, but Kelly is eager to continue working with them in Boulder as they develop.
“I think both those young men are really good football players,” Kelly said. “Demouy, last year was tough on him because he had that knee injury in the Arkansas game. He was really coming along. He’s very athletic. He was one of the most athletic linebackers in that (recruiting) class coming out. He can really run, he’s got a lot of range. He reminds me of Telvin Smith that I coached at Florida State. He’s that kind of athlete.
“Jahquez is a super smart young man. Jahquez got stuck behind a couple of really good players at Alabama and didn’t play as much as Demouy did, but he’s very smart and he’s very multiple. He can do a lot of things. He’s played corner, he’s played the slot. I worked him some last year on the back end as a high safety.
“They understand the system that we’re running. So they’ve done a good job coming in this summer and being able to help other people in the process.”
Fun times
Shedeur Sanders, Coach Prime and the rest of the family have been featured in commercials for KFC this summer. Shedeur said it’s been fun working on those commercials with his family.
“KFC commercials are fun, because it’s just a real exciting moment,” he said. “My dad always tell us, don’t take stuff like this for granted. And just sitting back just thinking about it like, ‘Yeah, you can’t do that because a lot of people aren’t able to be in this unique situation that we’re in.’ So that’s why I just value every time we do it. Sometimes we get tired, of course; we’re human, but in the grand scheme of things, I just love doing it because it’s with my family with my dad and my brothers and my sisters.”
Notable
• Offensive lineman David Conner, a redshirt freshman transfer from Florida, suffered a torn right pectoral muscle in July. He is likely out 3-5 months, so it’s possible he’ll miss the season.
• Myles Slusher is among several safeties expected to compete for a starting role after transferring in from Arkansas. “Myles is doing a good job,” Kelly said at Pac-12 media day last month. “I thought he had a good spring. He was banged up a little bit for part of it. So far this summer, workouts have been going good, we’re anxious to see if he carries that over into the in the fall, but he has the ability to be a really good player. He’s got great short area quickness, very instinctive, got good ball skills. Anxious to see what he can do.”
• At Pac-12 media day, Travis Hunter was asked how the Buffs can get the new guys up to speed. He said, “We pretty much just throw them in the fire. They’ve got to join the loop, play with us, move everything fast. You’ve got to catch on quickly with us.”