Coach Prime sure has a way with words and knows how to get a message across, particularly when he is none too pleased about what somebody said about any of his players.
Whether it’s reporters who doubted his Colorado football players prior to last season — rightfully so, in retrospect — or it’s this instance of a professor’s email regarding poor conduct in class, Deion Sanders will let you know when you’ve messed up.
@cufb303 You can tell Deion is heated 😳 #deionsanders #coloradofootball #shedeursanders #college #football #fyp #tiktok ♬ original sound – Cu-FB
One of the most enjoyable portions of Deion’s monologue was when he went on a dialectical metaphor run, capping it off with, “You’ve got a lot of ability, but no talent, because you don’t think.” That was delicious. However, my favorite part of Deion’s presentation was the specific dig he took at players who were called out in the professor’s email:
“Now what bothers me severely is, all the guys we’re about to see — where’s Corey, you in here? — let me know if they have a draft grade! Let’s roll it.”
My Big J Journalism research skills tell me that the “Corey” in question is most likely Buffaloes director of player personnel Corey Phillips. The longer the saga drags on and the young men are embarrassed, the less it sounds like Phillips wants to be in the room, which is objectively hilarious. Prime highlighted the players who were either not paying attention in the classroom, not trying to grasp the concepts being taught, or whatever other issue was happening. Sure enough, none of the players had “draft grades.” All that means is, they haven’t been deemed worthy of an NFL Draft pick to this point in their football careers.
I get that it must be hard to be part of such a visible football program, put in a lot of hours trying your damnedest to play the game after college, and try to juggle schoolwork on top of it all. Still, even with the explosion of NIL, it’s vital to take care of business and hit the books to retain eligibility, cultivate the foundation for a strong work ethic, and so forth. No breaking news here.
If you have the goods talent-wise, you work hard, and you do the right things off the field, Coach Prime will wax poetic about you until the cows come home. If not, you end up like 5-star cornerback Cormani McClain, who barely saw the field as a freshman for the animated-humanoid sieve that was Colorado’s defense. McClain was 247Sports’ consensus No. 1 CB in the country from the class of 2023.
Unclear if McClain was one of the players implicated in these classroom shenanigans.
On the other hand, Deion is adamant that the Buffaloes’ two-way star wide receiver/corner Travis Hunter and his son, quarterback Shedeur, are bound to be high picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Deion insists that he’ll be able to influence where they play in the pros, and fully intends to put that vision into action.
After a Hall of Fame playing career in which he achieved so much, you can’t blame Deion for accepting anything less than the best from his players. His heavy reliance on the transfer portal and massive roster turnover resulted in 4-8 record in 2023, with Shedeur taking a ton of punishment behind a porous offensive line. How the presumably improved Buffaloes respond to Coach Prime’s messaging on and off the field will be one of the more compelling subplots of the upcoming college football season.
