Deion Sanders' Colorado football coaching contract had a bonus that was paid out after the 2023 season for increasing exposure to the University of Colorado during the first year of Boulder's "Prime Time" era.
“Sanders to earn an Employee Recognition Bonus for the national recognition he has brought to the University and Athletics Department this season,” states the pay form signed by CU officials in early December (h/t USA Today).
And we're seeing a near daily stream of proposals from around the web about Coach Prime leaving Colorado for an NFL team, an SEC team, or a Big Ten team...why?
It's a well-known secret that Sanders faces rules at CU that he wouldn't face elsewhere. As BuffsBeat's Josh Tolle noted in the aftermath of the Coach Prime-to-Florida rumor, he wouldn't have the autonomy at UF, or elsewhere, that he has in Boulder.
"...the University of Florida would never allow Coach Prime to run the program the way he wants," Tolle prefaced before saying, "Scott Stricklin and the UF Board of Trustees would be calling some shots with Sanders there as coach and wouldn't allow him to be the CEO. It all sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. You can't tell a living legend how to run his program and many schools don't want to hand off full autonomy. Sanders has built a relationship with Rick George that gives him authority over the program without strict oversight. No where in the rest of the nation will this happen."
Again, why would Sanders leave his situation, sitting in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and running a program however he sees fit -- and being paid for the attention he brings to the school and the area?
Deion Sanders could get more from Colorado football braintrust after Travis Hunter and Shedeur and Shilo Sanders leave
All of the talk about Sanders following his sons and his unofficial son, Travis Hunter, to the NFL benefits Coach Prime when it comes to getting even more from Colorado's leadership than he already gets.
CU will have to go above and beyond to keep Sanders in charge of the Buffs over the long haul. Luckily, that'll be easier to do after they're not paying massive NIL checks to Hunter, Shedeur, and Shilo.
The "Prime Time" era's post-sons era may be even more action-packed than the current one. And Sanders may have even more sway on how it goes.