FORT COLLINS — Shilo Sanders took an official visit to Canvas Stadium as a Texas teenager back in December 2018, two CSU coaches ago. How differently this little tale could’ve gone.
“Deion Sanders had had a lot of public critics. I’m not one of them,” the current Rams football coach, Jay Norvell, said to lead off his Monday news conference in FoCo.
“I really respect all head coaches and the sacrifices that they’ve had to make to become head coaches. And I appreciate the path that they have to go through to get there, and especially African American coaches. And so I was happy to see Deion get his opportunity. I had to wait a long time to get mine.”
History says the Rams, who are coming off a bye and into the cauldron of Folsom Field Saturday for the Rocky Mountain Showdown, have the right man in Norvell. But the Twilight Zone says Coach Prime and his family might’ve looked pretty good in green and gold, too.
And in the case of Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, the Buffs’ safety and quarterback, respectively, we’ve got some actual, bizarre, visual proof.
Shilo had two officials coming out of Trinity Christian in Cedar Hill, Texas. One was to South Carolina, where he eventually signed. The other? Fort Collins.
And on that last trek, he even brought his little brother along. If there’s a photo that sums up what a long, strange trip the last five years have been, it’s the one on Deion Sanders’ Instagram from 247 weeks back.
You ready for this? In the pic, then-CSU coach Mike Bobo is wearing an orange hat with Shilo, dressed neck-to-toe in Rams football gear, standing to his right. And to his left? There’s Shedeur, one of the hottest college quarterbacks in America right now, clad in (rubs eyes) Rams gray and green.
Word on Pitkin Street is that both future Buffs liked what they saw. And why wouldn’t they? Canvas Stadium remains a top-25 level kinda building, even if the team that calls it home has a ways to go on the field in order to match the stadium’s swag.
Alas, both Sanders brothers are slated to suit up in Buffs gold and black against the Rams on Saturday, and everybody can have a good chuckle about the timeline that never came to be.
Although it might have. Longtime college football scribe Pat Forde, now with Sports Illustrated, reported in December 2021 that CSU “made inquiries” about Coach Prime, as well as about Marshall’s Charles Huff, in the search to replace Steve Addazio.
Now there are “inquiries” and there are truths, and the whispers are that Papa Sanders never really bit. That nothing went past the “checking-in” phase. Although the Rams were intrigued — the way TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati was game, having piqued Coach Prime’s interest at roughly the same time.
When I caught up with Parker after Norvell’s newser, he declined to comment on Forde’s report. But he’s stoked to see the Rams get back up on that horse again after a stinker in Week 1 against Wazzu, especially with Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” and ESPN’s “College GameDay” on the scene, and Disney luminaries such as Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith allegedly en route to Boulder as well.
“I think everyone is so hungry for success inside of our program,” the Rams athletic director told me. “That first Saturday of playing Washington State, which is shaping up to be a really good program, it was disappointing. But it was the first game, and you’ve got to shake it off and you’ve got to look forward.
“And Jay stated it really well (Monday), you know, we’ve got 11 games to go and they’re called a season for a reason. And I’ve used that statement a number of times. You’re not going to measure the quality of a program based on one weekend or two weekends. But we’ve got a lot to prove this year with our football program and I think there’s going to be plenty of opportunity to do that. And Saturday is kind of a day (where we can) take advantage of those opportunities.”
You throw out the records in a blood feud, although records have yet to beat Buffs tailback Dylan Edwards in a foot race. DraftKings.com says CSU is a 23.5-point ‘dog. The eye test says Coach Prime can pick the score.
“We want our kids to have a great week of practice, go prepare and go play,” Norvell said. “And so we’re excited about that. And just like (in) Texas hold ’em (poker), you know, scared money don’t win.”
Smart money loves the Sanders family. Since 2018, Norvell has coached a 21-point ‘dog five times with Nevada and CSU. His teams wound up covering just once, and have yet to stump the Vegas line in those situations versus a Power 5 opponent.
Still, TCU was favored by 20 points in Fort Worth when CU rolled into town 10 days ago. Prime put that notion in a front suplex and slammed it halfway to Istanbul.
“Come on, we’re playing on ESPN, we’ve got ‘GameDay’, let’s go, OK?” Norvell laughed. “I mean, really, what else do you need to say? This is what kids come to college for. Our guys are excited about the game — they’d play the game in the parking lot, if that’s where it was. But it’s a great opportunity. I mean, Stevie Wonder could see it’s a great opportunity.”
You can’t change the past. But one win, one moment, can sure change the narrative. Forever.
