Coach Prime sent a direction contradiction to the idea he has played "Daddy Ball" with his sons, Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, during his Colorado football coaching tenure; and presumably, before that at Jackson State and Trinity Leadership Public School.
“I’m harder on them than I’m probably on everyone else because I know the expectation," Coach Prime said on the Zero 2 Sixty Podcast on BLEAV NETWORK (h/t Essentially Sports). "I don’t expect them to be the best but I expect them to give me their best and that’s our deal. That’s been our deal from day one.”
Back in November before CU's 2023 regular-season finale against Utah, Mike Farrell of the Mike Farrell Sports brand made the "Daddy Ball" accusations against Coach Prime's program -- even blaming the Buffs' locker room fracture on it.
“(Colorado) has clearly become 'Daddy Ball' in Boulder, more so in regards to Shedeur than Shilo, and I’m hearing there is a slight fracture within the program because of it,” Farrell wrote. “Has Deion ever once criticized his son at QB? If he has, I’ve missed it. And yes, Shedeur has excellent stats with 3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions. But how about when he holds onto the ball way too long, as many NFL scouts and GMs are concerned about? Deion blames the offensive line and demotes his OC. And when he puts Travis Hunter back in the game with a lacerated liver but pulls Shedeur out of the Washington State game for fear he’ll get hurt. It becomes more and more obvious that this is about Deion and his sons and not about the team.”
Coach Prime didn't call his older son playing for Colorado football a future top-five pick
The "Daddy Ball" allegations wouldn't be beaten if Coach Prime spoke about his older son, Shilo, the way he does his younger son, Shedeur. The latter is a bona fide future QB cornerstone in the NFL, while the former figures to be a day two or day three draft pick.
Coach Prime is a realist. He may have two top-two future draft picks in 2025, but he doesn't put Shilo above Travis Hunter. And by that token, above Jordan Seaton either.
That's got to count for something. Even if no one will believe there isn't "Daddy Ball" going on in Boulder regardless.