Deion Sanders gives inside look at Colorado football reboot, but it comes with a catch

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Deion Sanders is taking a different approach in several different ways ahead of the Colorado Buffaloes' 2026 season. This starts with the types of players he targeted in recruiting and apparently rolls into the team's practices ahead of the 2026 college football season.

For the first time under Sanders' watch, Colorado will host an open practice for fans and reporters, as The Athletic's David Ubben reported. According to the report, tickets available to fans sold out in a single day; however, attendance also comes with a unique catch.

No cell phones, or any other video, photos, reports and anything else that falls into that category.

The school was firm on that, as highlighted in an email passed along by The Athletic, which states that "nothing" is allowed to be reported or published.

"Nothing observed at practice may be reported, published, posted, broadcast or otherwise shared in any form, on any platform, at any time," CU said in an email. "If you are uncertain whether something is reportable, the answer is that it is not."

So, just how serious are Coach Prime and Colorado about this rule? All fans and media are required to give up their phones before practice and will get them back afterward.

On the reporting front, don't expect to see virtually anything, as the school is asking for there to be no reports on injuries, player participation, depth charts, rotations, position changes, schemes, trick plays or situation packages, according to Ubben. While this is a significant change under Sanders' tenure as head coach, holding closed practices is also common practice in college football, but Colorado appears to be pulling out all the stops to ensure that nothing gets leaked publicly.

Deion Sanders' shift in approach for the 2026 Colorado Buffaloes

As for Sanders' new-look group, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman highlighted the change in approach for the 2026 season. More specifically, it was walk-on defensive back Ben Finneseth who summed up this year's team best with one word he used during Big 12 media day: "hungry."

"What I saw from this spring is a lot of guys that want to prove that they can play at this level," Finneseth said. "They’re hungry. We brought in guys that are pissed off ’cause they weren’t recruited out of high school. They came in with a competitiveness and a work ethic. The cohesive mindset of all the players is the biggest difference that we’ve had compared to last season."

As Feldman noted, Colorado was active in the transfer portal this offseason, targeting players who have extensive playing experience at any level of college football. It's an interesting shift, and one that should make the Buffaloes one of the most talked-about teams in the country once again, although that's not a surprise at this point.

As for Sanders, he's back to his old self after a tough stretch last season battling bladder cancer and missing much of the offseason. Now, it seems fans can expect the high-energy head coach to be back in form from the word go this season.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Deion Sanders gives inside look at Colorado football reboot, but it comes with a catch

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