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Against all odds, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are 2-0.
Coach Prime and co. shocked the world in Week 1 of the college football season when they upset reigning national runner-up TCU as 21-point underdogs.
They then solidified themselves as a force to be reckoned with thanks to a blowout victory over Nebraska in Week 2.
The Buffs had plenty of doubters, this writer included. But Sanders has more than just rallied the troops. He’s turned Colorado into one of the top teams in the nation in just one offseason.
How did he do it? Well, in part because he has complete buy in from every player on his roster. And after listening to his pregame speech ahead of the win over Huskers, it isn’t hard to see why.
“There are real obstacles, that are strategically placed in your path,” Sanders begins. “That you must get over, get by, get through, get away from and you gotta deal with. You see, the thing about those obstacles is that it’s personal. You see, normally it’s the things that you care about, the things that mean a lot, the things that you must deal with right now. That you can’t put off and you can’t procrastinate about. You can’t even avoid, because it’s personal. It knows you and you know it.
“Now, see, I pride myself on being a great father. They say most African American men are not great fathers. But the devil is a lie. See, one thing about a father – a real father, I don’t care what ethnicity – if you say something about his kids, it’s personal.
“If you say something about his woman, it’s personal. If you just come on his property and do something that you have no business doing, it gets personal. And the reason it’s so personal to me, is they said something about my kids. You think I’m gonna let them talk about y’all and it ain’t gonna be personal? You think I’m gonna let them doubt y’all and it ain’t gonna be personal? You think I’m gonna let them nay say y’all and it ain’t gonna get personal?!
“You think I’m gonna let them say all the stuff that they said and that we don’t have and we proved that we have and then even when we proved that we had it they said it wasn’t real. Therefore guess what, it’s personal.
“I respect their head coach a lot. But it’s too late. Because this is personal.”
In the word of detective Jake Peralta, “literal chills.”
Coach Prime is preaching. And it’s now easy to see why the Buffs are winning.