Colorado, Deion Sanders land commitment from star QB Julian Lewis

Colorado, left for dead by many after an ugly loss to Nebraska on Sept. 7 on the heels of a 6-game losing streak to end the 2023 season, has done nothing but win since that game, and the Buffaloes may have secured their biggest victory on Thursday.

Julian Lewis, a blue-chip quarterback recruit from Carrollton, Ga., committed to the Buffs on Thursday. Lewis made the announcement on Pat McAfee's show on ESPN.

The No. 35 overall player and No. 6 quarterback in the class of 2025, Lewis originally committed to USC on Aug. 22, 2023, but de-committed on Sunday. (USC has already pivoted, flipping 5-star Husan Longstreet from Texas A&M.)

Lewis's commitment has many implications for Deion Sanders, Colorado and college football as a whole beyond the obvious. 

For starters, Lewis's commitment comes as many in the media have been speculating, hoping and wishing for Coach Prime to make a run at the NFL after this season, possibly to coach whatever team drafts Shedeur Sanders next spring.

While anything can happen, Thursday's news shows that Sanders is making concrete plans to remain in college football beyond this season. While we were obviously not privy to the discussions between Colorado and the Lewises, it's safe to say they would not have committed to the Buffs without assurances that the head coach would remain with the program for the foreseeable future.

Second, Lewis's commitment shows Sanders can be a dynamic recruiter, when he wants to be. Sanders has stated multiple times that he does not recruit off campus. 

“I have never heard one guy say I chose this college because this coach came by my crib. Have you?” Sanders said this spring. “I can’t do the things other coaches can do. You know why? I’m Coach Prime. And I didn’t stutter when I said it.” 

That's largely because Sanders has shown little interest in high school recruiting, period. His 2024 class, a 12-man group with one 5-star and two 4-stars, was last in the Big 12 in total volume but first on a per-player basis. His 2025 class is similar: last in the conference in volume but first on a per-capita basis; among CU's 11 commitments, five are 4-stars.

Aside from a Travis Hunter here and a Julian Lewis there, Sanders prefers to build his rosters through the transfer portal, and here's the scary thing for the rest of the Big 12 and college football as a whole: it's clearly working. Now in his fifth season on the job, Sanders has met or exceeded expectations every year. At 8-2 on the season and 6-1 in the Big 12, the Buffaloes are on track to meet BYU in the Big 12 Championship with a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff likely on the line.

The assumption that Deion would follow Shedeur made sense. The pair have been together at every level of football so far, from the youth level in the Dallas area, to when Deion was Shedeur's offensive coordinator in high school, and then when they made the massive leap together to Jackson State and then to Colorado. At each level, father and son have succeeded. So it was natural and somewhat expected they would make the final leap together, considering Deion's unique place as one of the greatest players ever who's also clearly proven he can coach at a high level as well. 

All the while, though, Deion has maintained that he intends to remain in college football after Shedeur turns pro. Thursday's news is the biggest piece of evidence yet that Coach Prime has been telling the truth all along, which means the rest of college football now has to reckon with three realities: 1) Deion has figured out a formula to win in college football, 2) He's sold others on that formula, and 3) He's planning on sticking around in college football for the foreseeable future.