Deion Sanders Reflects On Nature Of College Football Rivalries

Coach Prime's learning curve.

Hall of Fame former defensive back and wide receiver Deion Sanders recently reflected on his media-heavy debut season as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes in 2023, during a new episode of Bleav's Zero 2 Sixty podcast with former NFL guard Matt McChesney.

"I love rivalries. I mean, I had to learn the history of rivalries with... Nebraska. I didn't know anything about that, too," Coach Prime conceded. "I had to give up wearing red... because that was one of my favorite colors I had. But I had to give that up. And now with this gentleman at Colorado State, he's forced it into a rivalry... So I love that kind of stuff."

Sanders explained how he balances his competitive mentality with his respect for the history of college program rivalries.

"...I don't want to be offensive to the opposing team, but I'm ready to get down," Sanders indicated, before elaborating. "I'm not ready to shake your hand, hold you, a lot of you, and tell you how good your program is and kiss the baby. I'm not about that at that time. I'm ready to get down. I'm not like a lot of these other coaches."

"We're getting ready to play UCLA, and [then-head coach Chip] Kelly came over... I said, 'Coach, I'm sorry, I'm locked in, man.' ...And he hugged me and said, 'You know you're my guy!' I said, 'After the game we can go and we can talk about anything you want to talk about, but until then, I'm like, 'Coach you just know now, I'm locked in right now.' And he's my guy. So I'm not I'm not that type of guy. And some of these guys take it the wrong way. But when I'm on that grass, man, it's time."

During his first season at the helm of the Buffs, following a 27-6 run at Jackson State across three seasons (including two bowl appearances), Sanders led the club to a lowly 4-8 record (1-8 in the Pac-12).