Deion Sanders slotted No. 15 in recent Big 12 head coach rankings, ahead of only Kansas State’s Collin Klein

Colorado’s head coach Deion Sanders is coming into the 2026 season with a new point of conversation in the Big 12: a recent On3 head-coach ranking by Brett McMurphy lists Sanders at No. 15 among the conference’s 16 football coaches.

In that ranking, Sanders is placed ahead of only one other coach, Kansas State first-year head coach Collin Klein at No. 16. The ordering matters because head-coach lists are often read as shorthand for perceived team readiness and program trajectory, even though they are not official measures of season results.

The story line for Colorado is particularly sensitive for the fan base because Sanders is in the second phase of building a program identity after taking over at a high-profile moment in modern college football. Rankings like this can be interpreted as either a reality check or as disrespect, depending on what supporters expect the Buffaloes to accomplish in the next year.

On3’s list is framed as a “recent” set of Big 12 coach evaluations, and it positions multiple other Big 12 leaders ahead of Sanders. That creates a steep gap between Colorado and the coaches ranked above, implying that the broader market view, at least in this specific exercise, is that Colorado is closer to the bottom than the middle of the conference right now.

For Kansas State, the placement of Klein at the very bottom of the same chart underscores how the recruiting, staff-building, and player-development timelines often shape public expectations. First-year head coaches are frequently judged on opportunity and the ceiling of their early work rather than on accumulated, demonstrated results, and this list follows that pattern by pairing a first-year transition with the lowest ranking in the group.

The rankings also land at a moment when Big 12 programs are balancing recruiting momentum with roster change. For Colorado, the No. 15 placement will likely raise questions about how quickly the program can translate recruiting and cultural adjustments into consistent on-field execution, especially in a conference known for tight, competitive matchups from week to week.

What to watch next is whether Colorado’s early offseason groundwork and the start of the 2026 season force the gap to close. Rankings are rarely settled in a single recruiting cycle or spring evaluation, but the first stretch of games can quickly shift perceptions, either validating the skepticism or reframing the expectations entering the year.