With Shedeur Sanders poised to move on to the NFL after a three-year college career, Deion Sanders and Colorado football are looking for a new starting quarterback. They found one on Wednesday and it is name familiar to Volunteer fans.
Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter committed to Colorado in the transfer portal after spending four seasons at Liberty playing for both Hugh Freeze and Jamie Chadwell.
Before playing four seasons at Liberty, Salter spent a brief stint at Tennessee. Salter committed to Jeremy Pruitt and his staff ahead of his senior year of high school and early enrolled at Tennessee in January 2021 shortly before the school terminated Pruitt. The former four-star recruit stuck it out after Danny White tabbed Josh Heupel as the Vols’ newest head coach.
But shortly into Salter’s first spring practice at Tennessee, Heupel suspended the freshman for an off-field incident. Tennessee reinserted Salter to the team following spring practice but dismissed the talented quarterback after another off-field incident in June.
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Salter was the off-and-on starting quarterback for Liberty in 2022 before moving into the role as the full-time starting quarter for both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The 6-foot-1 quarterback was stellar in 2023 but was much more pedestrian during the 2024 season.
The Cedar Hill, Texas native originally entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season but ended up returning to Lynchburg for one more season.
Over the last two years as Liberty, Salter completed 59% of his passes for 4,762 yards, 47 touchdown and 12 interceptions. He also added 1,676 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. The Flames posted a 21-4 record in Salter’s two seasons as starting quarterback including a berth in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl.
Liberty was a favorite to earn the group of five automatic bid to the College Football Playoffs this past season, but the Flames posted a disappointing 8-3 record and failed to make the Conference-USA Championship game. However, Salter still earned CUSA MVP honors in 2024 despite the Flames taking a step back in the win-loss column.
Salter joins a Colorado program that’s been resurgent under Sanders’ leadership the last two years. After posting a 5-18 in the two seasons prior to Sanders’ arrival, Colorado posted a 9-3 record this past season. The strong play of Shedeur Sanders was a major reason why. That makes it a challenging task for Salter to keep Colorado competitive atop the Big 12.
