Colorado head coach Deion Sanders took the stage on the second day of Big 12 Media Days, and in Coach Prime fashion, he made his presence known.
He answered questions from media outlets from all over the Big 12 and delivered strong statements about his team, the conference’s future, and college football.
Here’s what Coach Prime had to say during his press conference and the coaches roundtable panel at Big 12 media days.
Opening statement
“Brett Yormark, I love you, man, I appreciate ya. I think we have the best commissioner, I don’t think, I know we have the best commissioner in college football… I love you to life, brother and I know you somewhere clean as the board of health right now.”
“Coaches of the Big 12 are incredible. I love them. They’ve been calling, checking in on me, making sure I’m straight. But you talk about knowing football, teaching football, communicating with their kids.None of this…animosity, jealously. I love the coaches of the Big 12. I want to beat them all, but I love them. I truly do.”
On instilling strength in the program through health issues
“First of all, I trust God with all my mind, all my soul and everything I have. I never waver. I never say why me, regardless of what’s ahead of me or what I see. Like, lord just use me. If you can use anything, you could use me. So, I’m truly thankful. I’m truly a go-getter. I want to win at all costs. I want to win the right way. I want to set the right standards, and when I prepare the young men for life, not just football, I want them to be professional.”
Challenges of health issues
“Athletic, sometimes y’all be on that bull junk. So, I’m not going to tell you much. You know that. But I’m not here to talk about my health. I’m here to talk about my team,” Coach Prime said. “Average day? I’m looking good. I’m living lovely.”
On Colorado’s wide receiver room
“They are unbelievable. They are awesome. I can’t wait to unleash them. They’re great. Now you’ve got to understand they’re replacing some dogs…that all four of them will be in a professional camp…But these young men are unbelievable. I can’t wait ’til the world gets a glimpse of these receivers. We have some youngsters from freshmen on up that can flat out go get it. And I’m proud of our recruits, our coaches. I’m proud of what we brought into Boulder, Colorado.
On the quarterback battle between Julian “JuJu” Lewis and Kaidon Salter
“As long as they’re doing their jobs and we’re winning, we definitely want to continue to develop JuJu. But Kaidon is unbelievable. Kaidon’s off the chain. He’s been there, done that. He can get the job done. I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t trust him. But JuJu is coming around the mountain when he comes. And I love him. I love what he brings to the table. I don’t know how it’s gonna play out. As long as it plays out, we can’t lose either way with either of those two.
On Texas Tech’s portal additions
“Joey got some money! Joey, where ya at baby?! Spendin’ that money! I love it. I love it. Once upon a time, you guys were talking junk about me going in that portal. Now, when everybody goes into the portal, it’s ok. It’s cool when they do it, but it’s a problem when I do it.”
On long-term plans based on Big 12’s growth
“I started this by saying I love our commissioner and I love our [athletic director], and they provided a luxury of growth and unity and respect. Our long-term plans are to win. Our short-term plans are to win. I have a simple formula. Like 40/40/20. Grad transfers, transfers and high school kids. So I stick to what we do. What we know works for us. It may not work for somebody else, but it works for us. And it’s been working for us.”
On Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham
“Coach Dillingham is unbelievable. He’s a dear friend. We go way back. I thought we were going to have the opportunities to coach together at one point. But he’s excelled, man. And what he did last season was un-darn-believable. I didn’t get jealous. I didn’t get sensitive. I was just proud of it because you know we were virgins together coming into the Big 12.”
“So I’m thankful for the Pac-12 and the Big 12. So I’m thankful he did the dog-gone thing that was unbelievable and now he’s soaring and I’m just happy, man,…I want to see everybody win except when they play us. But I’m proud of coach Dillingham and what his relationship with hose kids and young men.”
On expectations for the season
“We want to win. We want to win at all costs. We want to be in that championship game, not here at the star, but over at that other big house that Jerry [Jones] has built. That’s what we want to do. And that’s what we’re gearing up for. That’s all we’re playing for. We play to win. We don’t just play to compete.”
On his theme music this season
“I got to feel it man. I got to get a feeling for the team. I got to get a feeling for how they move, how they work and what they want. Their needs. I just got to get a feeling for it. See I’m old school not an old fool. But I got to adapt to what’s now and what’s current.”
On his first game against TCU in 2023
“It was everything. It was like the genesis of my coaching career in major college football. It was the genesis of using Travis [Hunter] and Shedeur [Sanders] and some of the players that we featured in our program. and It was phenomenal. I am excited about coming back to Texas to play because this is my second home now. But I absolutely love it.”
On what he would change about college football
“What I would change in college football it has to be and they are trying to implement it. It has to be a salary cap on this because it’s going crazy, and nobody knows where it’s going to land or where it’s going to end. And you have so many different doors. It’s like I would see a player that say he got an offer from another school And I’m trying to figure out, why you guys haven’t investigated it and how is that possible when the guys not in the portal? How is that? Now, that was one of my players, you guys would be all over it. I’m still trying to figure out how can somebody say ‘you got a five million dollar offer?’ How? and the kid is not in the portal. So, I think we need to be upright and upstanding.”
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