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Coach Prime is gearing up for Year 1 at the University of Colorado. He’s looking to make his presence known in a new conference after being given his first opportunity to compete at the Power Five level.
Unfortunately, he’s missing out on one of his first major opportunities to speak about his program. Deion Sanders will miss PAC 12 Media Day event this week.
The league will hold the annual gathering on July 21 in Las Vegas. A move was made out of Los Angeles following the departures of USC and UCLA.
Fans were certainly eager to hear from Sanders as his Buffaloes have experienced massive change over the offseason.
Coach Prime has completely flipped the roster, though not to the liking of many of his future counterparts. His use of the transfer portal has upset college coaches around the country as he essentially told players to find a new home upon taking over.
After landing the gig, he immediately brought in his son to play quarterback, as well as a few other top players from Jackson State. He’s also made noise on the recruiting trail, securing the top ranked transfer class in the country.
Sanders deemed it a necessary evil when taking over a team coming off a 1-11 season. In fact, the Buffaloes have won more than five games just once over the last 15 campaigns, meaning a culture change needs to happen for Sanders to be successful in Boulder.
Speaking with reporters at PAC 12 Media Day would’ve offered the perfect opportunity to further explain what’s happened this offseason, as well as what’s to come in the 2023 season.
Unfortunately, we won’t get that chance to hear Prime’s thoughts.
Deion Sanders will miss his first PAC 12 Media Day due to another surgery on his foot.
His issues with blood clots have given him difficulties for some time, even causing him to lose toes a few years back. Earlier this offseason, he was forced into emergency surgery because of the clots.
A follow-up was scheduled just before the event, meaning he won’t be in attendance in Sin City.
Breaking: Colorado head coach Deion Sanders will not attend Pac-12 media day on Friday in Las Vegas because he is having surgery on Thursday. DC Charles Kelly will go in his place. #cubuffs
— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) July 19, 2023
Instead, defensive coordinator Charles Kelly will go in his place.
Fans were upset to hear the news as Sanders would’ve been one of the more entertaining coaches to listen to at the podium.
One person wrote, “Besides its most high-profile program leaving, it’s most high-profile head coach not showing up and a seemingly non-existent TV deal, think everything is shaping up nicely for the Pac-12 prior to Media Day on Friday.”
Someone else said, “Well there goes the entertainment.”
Another follower commented, “Well this is a bummer.”
This fan was skeptical of the timing saying, “Interesting timing. I’m assuming media day has been on the calendar for a while…”
Though that is the case, this follow-up surgery wasn’t scheduled until after his most recent surgery. Given the seriousness of the blood clots in the past, the timing’s probably not worth reading too much into.
While Deion Sanders won’t be at PAC 12 Media Day, his son will. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter will accompany Charles Kelly to Las Vegas. We’ll see what they have to say about the upcoming season.