BOULDER — Deion Sanders’ new Lambo was parked lovingly between the 41 and the 44 at the CU Indoor Practice Facility on Saturday. Three yards and a cloud of eat my dust.
“Definitely a great thing to see,” Jubi Louis told me as we admired the 2024 Lamborghini Huracan, matte black with sweet white drip and the Nike swoosh on the side. “Because it makes it attainable for the kids that are coming in. They can see what hard work gets you. It’s kind of symbolic.”
It’s also technically not his — the Huracan was a donation from Nike, part of a promotion for Coach Prime’s new Air DT Max shoe that’s due out in June. Although, hey, they’re not wheeling out Lambos for Karl Dorrell or Mike MacIntyre, are they? You’ll miss the that stuff when he’s gone. The Terrell Owens cameos. The scary Warren Sapp faces. The Lil Wayne concerts that turned the 2024 Black & Gold Game into a weekend of CU-Chella.
Jubi, whose son Byron was on an unofficial recruiting visit, stopped me there.
“Yeah, that was one of our main concerns. And as Byron stated, Coach Prime made it very clear that he’s here to stay, at least for a while,” the elder Louis said. “And that he isn’t following the kids, the kids are following him. I do believe that he loves what he does. And I believe that he’s going to probably be here for some time. For sure.”
Even Deion knows better than to lie to Mom. Surely, Saturday’s damp, soggy mess — 28,424 tickets were purchased, about half of those purchasers showed up, and that half deserve Lambos of their own — can’t be the final spring game of the Coach Prime Era. Deion Sanders? Pac-12 Network? No way.
“I tell (parents) the truth,” Sanders said when I asked about those parents who shivered through 39-degree temps. “I tell them I’m a father, not a baby-daddy. I don’t follow my kids. I pave roads for my kids. I build generational wealth for my kids. I lead my kids. I don’t follow my kids.
“So I do not plan on following my kids to the NFL. But I’m thankful. I’m glad that you (media) already … pretty much put them in the NFL. That means you believe in them wholeheartedly. But I’m not that kind of father. I have work to do here. I absolutely love it here.”
The NFL part, I believe. With a caveat. If some franchise gives Prime the same kind of power, latitude, space and carte blanche to let Team Sanders run the show as they please … all bets are off.
That said, I can only think of one owner who’d be wacky enough to try it, and that’s Jerry Jones in Dallas. Jones is already on record saying he loves Shedeur Sanders, who’s destined to be the No. 1 or No. 2 QB off the board in the ’25 NFL Draft. The Cowboys even hired Prime’s favorite headhunter, Mike Zimmer, a few months back to become their defensive coordinator. If you thought Season 2 of the Amazon Prime series was a hoot, imagine Deion coming back home to run America’s Team, with his son as America’s Quarterback.
“I don’t really fly fish, but I’ve been known to be fly when I fish,” Coach Prime continued, smiling, on a roll, and still not directly answering the question. “I want to do that. You know, (there’s) a few things I want to do here that I haven’t done. I want my own Jet Ski line. ‘The Primemobile.’ I want that. I’m working on that right now. But I love everything about this part of the country and the fan base that we have here. I just want to really bless you with a tremendously successful team. I really do.”
I believe that part, too. I believe the Buffs can win 7-8 games in the Big 12 this fall, health and offensive line permitting. I believe the autumn is going to be all kinds fun. And all kinds of unsustainable.
Great college offensive lines, even the good ones, have to be grown, not patched through the portal. A CU pal shared his nightmare scenario with me once: Sanders’ Buffs in Year 2 qualify for a non-playoff bowl, and 25-30 players opt out — two-way stud Travis Hunter and Shedeur chief among them — to get ready for the pros. Then Sanders goes back to TV or retires or joins the Cowboys, and another 40-45 guys hit the portal.
CU takes the field for the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl with Ryan Staub behind center and with interim coach Pat Shurmur bravely leading the charge.
I chuckled. He stared at me as if I’d just kicked a puppy.
At any rate, anything and everything is on the table now, and actions will say a heckuva lot more than words. Although the Buffs going from zero to three high-school commits for the class of ’25 late last week, a group that includes defensive back Alex “The Hawk” Graham, is a step in the right direction. A longtime prep coach in the metro told me Thursday he had a CU assistant actually visiting his campus, in person, for the first time in ages. That’s a good sign, too.
“I mean, the coach doesn’t follow his sons,” offered Byron Louis, that four-star back from the Class of ’25, who’s entertaining offers from CU, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pitt, Tennessee and USC. “His sons follow the coach. Right?”
Right. But what if that son plays for the Dallas Cowboys?
“Listen, he’s set his stones here in place,” Byron replied. We both stared at the Lambo again. “He likes it here. I like it here. It’s nice.”
