Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has named Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter as the team’s starting quarterback for the season opener Friday Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech.
After Sanders’ quarterback son Shedeur moved on to the NFL, the question was not just who would replace him at Colorado but how.
The obvious choice was Salter, who is a dual threat signal caller and led Liberty to a 13-1 season in 2023. He has one season of college eligibility left.
“He’s the guy at this point,” Sanders said at a news conference Tuesday.
The other top choice was Julian “JuJu” Lewis, a heralded freshman from Carrollton, Georgia. He’s only 17 year old and has four years of college playing time ahead of him, but there’s also the risk he could transfer out of Colorado if he doesn’t see playing time.
Might both of them share time at the position in the same game?
“We’re hoping that you see some JuJu periodically through the game as well,” Sanders said. “We would like get him some reps as well. But the game predicates that.”
Sanders said Salter’s “experience is vital.”
There was some mystery to the decision before Tuesday. Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Monday that Colorado coaches have discussed the quarterback situation “at great length behind the scenes.”
“We’ll just let it reveal itself, and if there are any announcements, that’s certainly something Coach Prime will handle.’
Shurmur also praised Salter.
“He’s obviously a tremendous athlete that if the situation presents itself, can do some good things with his legs,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to putting him out there to see what he can do.”
Sanders said Tuesday he’s known Salter’s family for more than 10 years and coached his younger brother Kylan in youth football near Dallas. Kylan Salter is a sophomore linebacker at Colorado. Both are from Cedar Hill, Texas. Kaidon Salter joined Liberty after being dismissed from the team at Tennessee.
‘I’ve been checking this kid out since high school,’ Sanders said of Kaidon Salter.
Sanders added that he didn’t need to have a big talk with JuJu Lewis to explain the situation.
‘He knows where we stand,’ Sanders said.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com