Tense Postgame Interaction Between Jay Norvell, Deion Sanders Revealed in New Video

Coach Prime took the standoff with his intrastate rival personally.

September’s intrastate matchup between Colorado and Colorado State really did get personal between coaches Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell. 

The tensions began when Norvell said on his radio show that he took off his sunglasses and hat when he talked to players and the media. That was widely perceived as a jab at Sanders, who regularly sports those items on the sideline and during interviews.

Sanders used those remarks to motivate his team, saying Norvell made the game “personal.”

Jay Norvell and Deion Sanders got into a war of words around September’s Colorado-Colorado State game, and a new docuseries shows how it continued on the field :: Photo Credits: Lucas Boland/The Coloradoan/USA TODAY NETWORK, Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

However, Sanders apparently took Norvell’s remarks more personally than his players. A clip from Amazon’s Coach Prime docuseries shows what he and Norvell said to each other during the postgame handshake following Colorado’s 43–35 comeback victory. 

• Johnson: Deion Sanders and Colorado’s O-Line Overhaul Is Underway

Shedeur Sanders told his father not to put his hands on Norvell, indicating that there were some hard feelings expressed while leading up to the game. Norvell tried to settle the situation by telling the Colorado coach that his remarks weren’t referring to his family. However, Deion Sanders took exception to Norvell’s explanation.

Episode 3 of “Coach Prime” reveals the interaction between Coach Prime and Jay Norvell on the field after Norvell infamously said:

“When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.” pic.twitter.com/3RRa4VeIgW

— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 14, 2023

“Oh, you was talking about my mama, dog,” Sanders responded. Norvell denied that, but Sanders didn’t back down.

“Yes, you were,” he said. “You were. You were.”

Norvell walked away, presumably realizing that wasn’t the place for such an argument. However, the coach’s wife, Kim, indicated there was a bit more to the confrontation that either wasn’t captured on camera or shown in the video clip in a now-deleted message posted to X (formerly Twitter).

If this rivalry didn’t have a ton of national attention before, it certainly does now. Next year’s game between the Buffaloes and Rams already has some spice to it.