Deion Sanders tells reporter "Ya'll gotta have some balls" on personal shots

Coach Prime wants the media to be honest about why he's taking shots

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders has dealt with the brunt of personal shots this season. Every week has been another opposing coach stepping up to the plate to tee off on the Colorado Buffaloes head coach.

A reporter on a Zoom call Monday asked Sanders why he was the target of so much negative energy. After all, like Coach Prime said after the loss to Oregon, he's not out on the field anymore. If anything it has added extra motivation for the Buffs.

“You know why that is,” Sanders said. “Just say it. Don’t try to get me and provoke me to say it. Just say it, man. I mean, some of ya’ll gotta have some balls sooner or later to just say what it is. You can’t provoke me to say it. I’m not built like that.”

What Sanders was likely referring to was the fact he's an outspoken black coach. While some would like to believe race doesn't play a factor here, it absolutely does. It might be the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, but it doesn't separate it from being the truth.

If Sanders is successful at a major Power Five school, it might open the doors to the college football "country club" to have others come alongside Coach Prime as the new generation. We can argue out the fine points. However, at the end of the day that's why people are rooting against his success at CU.

“Even when I played, everybody thought I talked,” said Sanders. "I just really had a good time with the media, and I talked about me. I never spoke of my opponent. You can’t find one clip of me ever speaking negatively or about my opponent, period. I don’t believe in that. I don't condone that.”

Sanders and the Buffs prepare for 8th-ranked USC this weekend. A Big Noon Kickoff feature on FOX in front of a sellout crowd at Folsom Field.