Coach Prime sends stern fatherly warning to Colorado football locker room
Coach Prime has always went out of his way to play the father figure role beyond just his own kids, and we've seen that include the likes of Travis Hunter and even Lil Wayne. During a moment caught by his oldest son's (Deion Sanders Jr.) media company, Well Off Media, Deion Sanders gave his Colorado football locker room a stern, fatherly warning on what not to do in the offseason ahead of a critical 2024 campaign for the Buffs.
"Everybody's happy y'all have made plans," Sanders said (h/t Marca). "Everybody is excited. I don't know what you going to do, [But] ain't nobody going to go get high on the break. Ain't nobody going to get drunk. Ain't nobody going to impregnate nobody. You going to be some good wholesome kids. Your body is as much as it is about your mind. It's getting command of your mind. Point number one - Bring out the best in your teammate. It's valuable to know your teammates, their strength and how to position them for success. That involves you too. Next is sacrificing your ego when you set aside personal agendas for the good of the team, not yourself for the good of the team. The best thing you can do for us is give us the best YOU. I want no copy of somebody else that you trying to be because you can't try to be that. I rather you be you that's not a 100% than trying to be somebody else because you're never going to master that."
Those comments, once captured by the talking heads covering the sport and perhaps even beyond the sports media realm, are going to ruffle more than just a few feathers.
Of course, that wouldn't be the first time Sanders said something seemingly non-PC that caused such an uproar.
Coach Prime: We want Colorado football QB from dual-parent household, DL from single-parent families
Sanders went on The Rich Eisen Show back in February 2023 and claimed that he wants his quarterbacks to come from dual-parent households while he wants his linemen to come from single-parent families in one of the most eyebrow-raising statements a head coach has ever said.
“Well, we have different attributes. Smart, tough, fast, disciplined with character,” Sanders said (h/t Mediaite). “Now, quarterbacks are different. We want mother, father. Dual-parent. We want that kid to be a 3.5 [GPA] and up because he has to be smart. Not bad decisions off the field at all. Because he has to be a leader of men and so many different attributes in what we look for when we see a quarterback.”
Such brutal honesty likely turned off many media members, perhaps helping to garner some of the harsh labels he's received since. His treatment of the 2022 Buffs that won a single game and saw its members cut en masse by Coach Prime certainly contributes to that too.