Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes will host the Arizona Wildcats in Boulder on Saturday. The 56-year-old college football coach likes his team’s chances because multiple fights broke out during practice throughout the week.
To him, that’s a good thing.
Coach Prime encourages his Colorado players to go at each other. He doesn’t break them up.
Most coaches cannot say the same. Sanders does not fit the typical cookie-cutter mold.
We’ve had a great week of practice. We had a couple of fights, which I like. It’s a great thing.
— Deion Sanders on the Colorado Football Coaches Show
He even took it one step further and said that he keeps track of the results.
I always want to know who won because I keep records. I don’t break them up. Some coaches break them up. I don’t.
— Deion Sanders on the Colorado Football Coaches Show
Sanders then proceeded to compare the fights during practice to something of a rebirth — a “rededication” — and explained why he doesn’t step in to stop the skirmishes.
Some guys fight hoping for the break up. No, we’re going to let you go. I love it. They’ve been getting after it. It’s almost like a rededication. It’s almost like a refocus. I love where we are. We’ve had great practices this week, offense, defense, as well as special teams.
— Deion Sanders on the Colorado Football Coaches Show
To Sanders, having guys fight amongst each other in practice shows their passion. It shows their tenacity. It shows that they are ready to hit their opponents in the mouth.
All of those things will be necessary if the 4-5 Buffaloes are to reach bowl eligibility with just three games left. They must beat at least two of Utah, Arizona and Washington State.
Deion Sanders hopes that the week of fights during practice was a catalyst.
Coach Prime’s unique approach to in-fighting was first on display during training camp.
Running back Anthony Hankerson took the ball up the middle in a goal-line scenario. Safety Jaden Milliner-Jones tried to bring him down and threw him to the turf after a touchdown had been scored.
6-foot-10 (!!), 310-pound offensive tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan didn’t like Milliner-Jones’ late hit and immediately got up in his face. That sparked both sides of the ball to go at it.
The dust eventually settled and Sanders took the opportunity to speak to his team and set the standard.
Colorado has played with a swagger that most other college football teams cannot replicate. Coach Prime is unlike any other coach in the country and he believes in talking the talk.
The only question is whether the Buffaloes can walk the walk. Saturday is a huge test, but because of the fighting, Deion Sanders feels good about how his team is approaching its biggest game of the year so far.