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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — The texts and calls went unreturned, so Warren Sapp decided to pay Deion Sanders a visit.
Sapp was concerned about Sanders, his friend, Colorado coaching boss and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer. In the spring, Sanders had left Colorado for his ranch in Texas, where he had spent months recovering from surgery to remove and reconstruct his bladder after a cancerous tumor was detected. But Sanders, who spends much of his life on camera, did not circulate the extent of his condition, even shielding sons Shedeur and Shilo from the details as they went through the NFL draft.
After several attempts to reach Deion Sanders, Sapp called once more and left a message.
“I said, ‘You call buddy at the gate, because I’ll be at the front this afternoon,’ and the gate was open,'” Sapp told ESPN. “I went to see him. I’m just that guy. I’m a bull in a china shop. I’m going through the front door.”
Sapp, who reached seven Pro Bowls by busting through barriers to grab ball carriers, had a similar, albeit gentler, mission in mind with Sanders.
“I just wanted to see my man and put my hands on him and hug him,” Sapp said. “I just wanted him to tell me, ‘I’m fine, I’ll be there.’ And that’s what he said: ‘I’m good.’ … I’m right back in front of him, and the jokes flowed, the stabs and the jabs. He’s still Prime, all day long.”
Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is still at Colorado to lead his team, following the most serious health scare in a series of medical challenges. An athletic marvel who played in both the NFL and MLB, Sanders has had 14 surgeries since 2021, including the amputation of two toes because of blood clots.
“I had more surgeries out of the game than I did in the game,” he said.
But the setbacks haven’t removed him from the Buffaloes’ sideline, where he will be Friday night as Colorado opens the season against Georgia Tech at Folsom Field (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Although Sanders is beginning his third year with the Buffaloes, after a five-win improvement last fall, he’s truly kicking off Phase 2 of his time at CU.
Colorado no longer has Sanders’ sons Shedeur and Shilo on the field. The pair of players who headlined the past two Buffaloes seasons, Shedeur and Travis Hunter — the two-way marvel and 2024 Heisman Trophy winner — is gone. So are others from a pass-heavy offense that was fun to watch but also faded in key moments.
So what would Deion 2.0 like to be? A team designed to excel more at the line of scrimmage, display better run-pass balance on offense and transition from finesse to physicality. Players will be coached by a staff perhaps unlike any in college football history, featuring three Pro Football Hall of Famers in Sanders as well as Sapp — the team’s defensive pass rush coordinator after a season as a quality control analyst — and Marshall Faulk, the former NFL MVP who is overseeing the running backs. Faulk was hired in February.
Colorado also is getting a new version of Sanders, who hasn’t lost any charisma but also has a different view on life.
“I’m a better man now than I was two years ago, because of things that God has allowed me to go through …” he said. “So I’m a better man, which makes me a better coach.”
The question now is: Will he lead a better team in 2025?
ON AN AUGUST morning, after a team practice, Sanders bounded into a room and sat down behind a placard that read, “Coach Prime.” On the eve of his 58th birthday, he didn’t look or sound like a man who, months earlier, underwent a major surgery to address a life-threatening condition. The shades, smile and swagger were all there.
“I’m living life right now,” Sanders said. “I’m trying my best to live it to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
At a news conference last month alongside his medical team, Sanders was declared “cured of cancer” by Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. But his ordeal caused significant lifestyle changes. Sanders joked that he “truly depends on Depends” and that he and his grandson “see who has the heaviest bag at the end of the night, it’s ridiculous.”
Sanders’ bladder reconstruction causes him to urinate more frequently. A portable toilet has been placed at Colorado’s practice field for Sanders to use and could be on the Buffaloes’ sideline tonight and for future games.
Sanders has maintained a positive outlook, but there’s no downplaying what he went through in the spring.
“He showed me the [postsurgery] pictures,” Sapp said. “We are out of the dark.”
Sanders’ recovery in Texas kept him away from the team for several months. He credited his assistants with maintaining the program during his absence, especially the strength and conditioning staff. Sanders “never had to call 100 times and check on the house,” because he had confidence nothing would veer.
When Sanders rejoined the team in July, he didn’t hold back.
“Every morning, he rises to the occasion,” Faulk told ESPN. “He’s out there at practice. He’s not just a lame-duck coach. Like, he’s out there, he’s fired up, whatever energy he has, he’s giving it. There’s no difference in him before he had the surgery, to now. There’s been no falloff.”
Faulk laughed and shook his head.
“It’s literally amazing,” he continued. “It’s divine, in a sense. People are always listening to him praising the lord and [saying] God is good and this stuff. Then, to see the video, tubes hanging out of him, it’s like, ‘Wait, what?’ It’s crazy because it’s so hard to believe. But if you believe he’s been put on this earth to do something special, as he’s always done, then it starts to make sense.”
SANDERS WILL ALWAYS elicit a range of reactions. But the fact that he’s still at Colorado, without his sons on the field, at nowhere near peak health, is notable. When he took the CU job, many thought without the draw of coaching Shedeur and Shilo, he would be gone by now.
But Deion Sanders’ commitment to Colorado has extended beyond his family history. In March, he received a new five-year, $54 million contract that makes him the highest-paid coach in the Big 12 and among the 10 highest-paid in the sport. The money is notable, but Sanders, a marketing machine outside of his coaching role, already has plenty. The commitment is more significant.
Colorado athletic director Rick George called the negotiation “very easy,” even though the finalizing process took longer than he and others anticipated.
“We were both very thoughtful about what we wanted,” George said. “[Sanders] wanted to know that he was going to be at Colorado for a while. He loves the city, he loves the state, he loves the community, he loves the university. I just think he’s in it for the long haul.”
Sanders had no connection to Colorado before he arrived. His personal ties are much stronger in Florida, Texas and Atlanta, where he played for the Falcons and Braves. Sanders’ name surfaced last year as a potential candidate to coach his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, and could continue to generate buzz for other jobs if Colorado can build on last year’s success.
But for now, Sanders seemingly has set up roots in the Rockies.
“I don’t think that he has a desire to go to the NFL, because I think he has a desire to impact kids, and this is the way that he can do that,” said Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, a former Colorado quarterback. “If he’s healthy, he’s going to coach. Colorado is perfect for Deion, just like Deion is perfect for Colorado. As much as that program needed him, and they needed him desperately, I think it’s a perfect fit for him. They gave him the keys to the castle.
“He can be completely himself. He can be totally authentic.”
Sanders isn’t the only one who feels as though he belongs at Colorado.
FAULK’S ARRIVAL AND Sapp’s promotion are not for show. They are there to help Sanders usher in a new way for Colorado to play.
The Buffs have made undeniable improvement since 2022, the year before Sanders arrived, when they went 1-11 and were outscored 534-185. Last year’s jump to nine wins was fueled in part by an improved defense under first-year coordinator Robert Livingston, who is back this fall.
But so much of Colorado’s offense seemed to revolve around two players.
“We don’t have his son, the quarterback that can score from anywhere on the field, and the unicorn that we’ve only seen once in a lifetime,” Sapp said, referring to Shedeur Sanders and Hunter.
The hope at Colorado is that its collective strengths can help offset the loss of genuine star power. Shedeur Sanders completed 71.8% of his passes for 7,364 yards with 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while breaking more than 100 CU records. Hunter was a modern-day iron man, leading the FBS in snaps played in both 2023 and 2024, while recording seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups and 153 receptions for 1,989 yards and 20 touchdowns in a Buffaloes uniform.
Their departures reinforce Colorado’s need to win through more traditional means. Over the past two seasons, the Buffaloes rank last in the FBS in rushing at 67 yards per game — 19 yards fewer than the next lowest team (Hawai’i). They’re also 132nd in both rushing attempts per game (28) and runs of 10 yards or more (66). Despite record-setting passing by Shedeur Sanders, Colorado also allowed 99 sacks since 2023, most in the FBS.
Colorado’s approach wasn’t sustainable, especially without Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Enter Sapp and Faulk.
“Nobody was pulling me off my couch but Deion,” Sapp said.
Faulk had never played with Sanders, but the two crossed paths while working as analysts at NFL Network, where Sapp also worked after retirement. Since retiring in 2007, Faulk had been approached by both NFL and college teams about coaching.
“I say this in the nicest way: I’m not a regular dude,” Faulk said. “If I’m going to work for somebody, or coach under somebody, it’s got to be somebody.”
During Sanders’ tenure, he has increased the NFL flavor of his staff. Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur directs the offense, while former NFL players work with position groups such as cornerbacks (Kevin Mathis) and offensive line (Andre Gurode and George Hegamin). Byron Leftwich, a former NFL quarterback and offensive coordinator, joined the staff this summer. But the three gold jackets in the building speak from a platform that few college coaches can. Sanders, Sapp and Faulk have combined for four Super Bowl rings, five NFL offensive or defensive player of the year awards, 23 Pro Bowl selections and 13 first-team All-Pro selections.
2:08
Josh Pate: Being competitive means success for Deion Sanders
Josh Pate and Joey Galloway discuss what they think a successful 2025 season of football will look like for Deion Sanders and Colorado.
Faulk’s presence, and Hall of Fame credentials, are meant to boost the running back room. For Faulk, it starts with teaching the position. He will ask Colorado’s running backs to draw their favorite play on the whiteboard. Then, he asks them to draw the defensive set best equipped to stop the play and one where the play can be most effective.
“It hits as a player, just understanding, like, coming from him, what he’s done, he’s proof,” Buffaloes running back DeKalon Taylor said. “He’s not just telling us something that he hasn’t done himself. He helps make the game easier, helps slow it down, helps us truly understand it.”
In his role, Sapp is taking a similar approach, trying to teach the innate tenacity he played with to Buffs defensive linemen.
“I play 3-tech, the same as he played,” defensive tackle Amari McNeill said. “I love having Coach Sapp around, every day, on my side. He says, ‘Don’t wait for no action. Meet the action.’ It helps me play faster.”
Although the defense undoubtedly made strides in 2024, Colorado still ranks 117th in runs allowed of 10 yards or more, and 105th in third-down conversions against during Sanders’ tenure. The pass rush has generally been a strength, especially with Livingston’s aggressive scheme, but Colorado also gave up too many conversions.
“He wants to run it,” Sapp said, nodding at Faulk, “I want to stop the run and earn the right to rush. I believe in dominating the LOS, the line of scrimmage. I live that way. That’s the way the game’s always going to be played.”
DEION SANDERS SUBSCRIBES to the same belief. The difference now is Colorado thinks it has the roster to achieve that vision.
“The next phase is: We’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Marys at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical, and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders was referencing the Hail Mary pass from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester at the end of regulation against Baylor, which sent the game into overtime that the Buffaloes eventually won 38-31. The Baylor game was one of just two that Colorado won by single digits, but the team hopes depth in areas such as offensive line and running back will lead to further dominance.
The offensive line was the weakest position group when Sanders arrived, but the group returns several experienced players, led by Jordan Seaton, who became the Colorado freshman to make 13 starts last fall. Colorado also added notable line transfers such as Xavier Hill, a first-team All-AAC selection at Memphis, and Zy Crisler, who started 28 games at Illinois.
“It’s kind of hard to fool the defense when you’re passing the ball so many times a game,” Seaton said. “So this year we’re going to balance it out and keep everybody guessing.”
Colorado’s emphasis on offensive line play shows not just in the number of players but coaches. After Phil Loadholt left for Mississippi State, Deion Sanders appointed three offensive line coaches: Gurode, Hegamin and Gunnar White, who leads the room.
“It’s a bunch of high expectations,” Hill said. “Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to be great. We don’t just have five, we have 10.”
Colorado also thinks it has capable options at running back in returnees Dallan Hayden and Micah Welch, and transfers such as Taylor (Incarnate Word) and Simeon Price (Coastal Carolina). Sanders said “at least” three backs will be in the rotation.
“I believe that they’re going to be far better at the line of scrimmage than they have been over the last two years,” Klatt said. “This is a program that is foundationally stronger than it was two years ago, foundationally stronger than it was last year, and we’ll just see what they can do in one-possession games.”
For Deion Sanders, Phase 2 at Colorado will bring adjustments. He has downplayed the shift at times, saying his job is easier without having to balance being a father and a coach.
But he also entered coaching because of his sons, and recently acknowledged it’s “not easy” without them.
“He’s building a legacy here,” Seaton said. “He started with his kids and he got to finish with them, but this journey, we’re his new kids now, so he’s going to finish with us.”
After a difficult spring and summer, Sanders looks forward to beginning a new chapter at Colorado.
“First, it was the challenge of coming to this level. Could we change the game? We did,” he said. “Then, can you consistently do it with the players you have? Can you win? We did. Now it’s: Can you do it without Travis and Shedeur? It’s always going to be a challenge, I don’t mind that. I stand up to those.”
