Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders is his first season as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, and he’s completely changed the culture in Boulder. From the jump Sanders let it be known that there will be consequences for every action, so choose battles wisely. With his team taking the field the past week for their first spring practices, Sanders was in his rare and very demanding form.
He could be heard yelling and encouraging players to go harder and to finish strong. Something he says needs to happen when you just had a 1-11 season and went a combined 5-19 the last two seasons.
As his players prepared to leave for spring break, Sanders was very blunt with his players about what he expects while they’re away and upon their return to Boulder. In the team’s final meeting before departure, Sanders had this to say.
“You have a meeting Monday morning. If you late to that meeting, there’s going to be consequences. Your locker will be cleaned. It will be cleaned, and I’m not threatening you. It’s just reality,” Sanders told his players.
After issuing his warning, Sanders went into his talk about being in the right place at the right time, and with the right folks.
Sanders Wants His Players To Value Their Lives
Sanders speech always resonates but in wake of what happened at Alabama with some of their football and basketball players over the last month, one can never stress what he told his players enough.
“Fellas be careful on your break. Be careful of our comings and goings. Everyone ain’t for you, everyone ain’t with you, everybody don’t love you, everybody don’t appreciate you, everybody don’t what you to be that guy you plan on being, and your life is of value.
“Your life is of essence. You are somebody. You are important. So, be careful please. We don’t want to put on all black and go to a funeral. We want to put on all black and go out there and whup somebody,” he passionately said.
Sanders did the same thing at Jackson State during the ream’s bye week, and when Migos rapper Takeoff was slain the week of the Tigers’ trip to Houston to face SWAC foe Texas Southern. So in essence, this is nothing new for how he handles his players as they prepare to separate from him for a while.
Tigers Are Prepping For Annual Spring Game Upon Return
With Coach Prime comes many things, and one of those things is visibility and exposure. The Buffaloes are only one of two spring games that will air on ESPN, along with two-time defending champion Georgia, whosee game will be televised on ESPN2. Colorado got the only ESPN spot this season, that’s definitely the “Coach Prime” effect.
As of late February the school reported that over 30,000 tickets had been sold in advance of the “Annual Black and Gold” game. For a school that has records that date back to 1953, the highest attended spring game was in 2008 with nearly 18,000 fans. The past two years have shown how far the program has fallen with a combined 2,950 fans showing up for spring football.
That’s set to change by miles this time around, and that’s what Coach Prime wants to see.
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