When Coach Prime talks, it’s part Tony Robbins, part sermon.
Last year, he asked if we believed. In the hype? Yes. In the team? Nope.
In a span of nine months, Deion Sanders brought in 87 new players, changed the culture and made Boulder a destination for TV networks, celebrities and former NFL players. Nothing like this had ever happened in college football before.
All he had to do was live up to his own expectations.
Which, of course, was impossible. Sanders realized that when CU opened the conference schedule. The Buffs lost the first one. They lost the last one. And eight of their last nine overall. Coach Prime boasts a life defined by success. What happened over the final two months was jarring as multiple opponents embarrassed CU, the Buffs appearing toothless after his son and star quarterback Shedeur Sanders saw his record-breaking season derailed and ultimately cut short by a fractured back.
Wednesday, Coach Prime addressed the local media for the first time since his inaugural season ended on a refrigerator-cold November afternoon in Salt Lake City. For many, he remains the most likable coach in the business. But one of the best? That is a work in progress.
This offseason did not require an HGTV roster makeover. These are his guys. This season is not about forever altering the college football landscape. It is about getting better.
And that starts with Coach Prime.
“I am very harsh on myself, much more harsh than you guys are,” he said.
Sanders will never be just another coach trying to get to the College Football Playoff. His resume as a player, his gravitas on the Google machine, prevent it. It’s why he says he’s made zero off-campus recruiting visits to players’ homes as CU’s coach, saying it would be “pandemonium” if he visited one athlete, but not another school 45 minutes away.
“I can’t do the things that other coaches do,” he said. “You know why? I’m Coach Prime. And I didn’t stutter when I said it.”
In his second season, however, Sanders is just like every other coach in this way: he needs to win. The Buffs enter the Big 12 with a sense of urgency. This represents Coach Prime’s last dance with sons Shedeur and Shilo and All-American Travis Hunter, a two-way unicorn. All three are potential first-round draft picks, and Shedeur could go No. 1 overall.
“We are going to win. I know that,” Coach Prime said. “You know that.”
Truthfully, I don’t. I know the Buffs will post more than four victories. But, the standard is different this season. Anything less than seven wins would be a massive disappointment.
For the Buffs to reach their potential, Sanders must improve on gameday. He is a tremendous recruiter, the portal his own personal Airbnb. Last season, CU’s offensive line couldn’t block someone on Twitter. Coach Prime added a battery of veterans and a pinch of pixie dust with top high school tackle Jordan Seaton to fix the problem.
Sanders is a Ted Talk-worthy motivator, stressing the importance of relationships while showing no hesitation to hold players accountable. Sanders must now find traction on Saturdays, demonstrating synchronicity with his coaches.
Last season featured prominent clock management issues vs. Oregon State and Arizona. And philosophical fissures with his coordinators Sean Lewis and Charles Kelly. After running on nitromethane, CU’s offense began coughing up fumes midseason.
The defense lacked star power up front and was a mess at corner when Hunter was hurt. Still, Kelly’s group yielded at least 30 points seven times, was humiliated by Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor and bottomed out at Washington State.
Sanders replaced both coordinators. Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur is running the offense and promises to run the ball (and hopefully not practice incompletions like he did with the Broncos). And Robert Livingston joins the Buffs from the Cincinnati Bengals where he spent the past 12 seasons and brings a modern view to the college world: “If we are great it’s because of the players, and if we are not good, it’s my fault.”
This season is not about adding pieces, but about making them fit. This type of staff experience should benefit Coach Prime. He acknowledged as much when returning to my question about his in-game performance last season.
“Going back to what you asked me about coaching, that’s another thing I learned. You gotta really take your time and truly be prayerful to understand who is in your room and who you might have. Sometimes you might think you clicked, but it just don’t click, it just don’t work,” Sanders said.
“I am not saying a guy is a bad guy or a bad person, but it may not work for you and it may not work for me. And that does not mean they cannot go somewhere else and soar. Like the Atlanta Falcons, it worked for me athletically (as a player), but winning-wise it didn’t, so I went to San Francisco and it worked out tremendously as well as Dallas. And that’s what transpired a little bit with the staff and some of the players.”
Sanders has shown he can take a wrecking ball to a roster. He owns the portal. But this season isn’t about recruiting and talking and selling. It’s about winning.
And for the Buffs to take the next step, they no longer just need Coach Prime. They need an Elite Coach.
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