Is Deion Sanders feeling pressure at Colorado? No. 'I'm really good at this'
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Colorado football coach Deion Sanders gave his first news conference of the preseason Thursday Aug. 6 and was asked if he’s feeling pressure as he starts his fourth season with the Buffaloes.
His three-year record is 16-21. Last year his team finished 3-9. This year he’s got a new-look team with several new assistant coaches.
But he’s also making more than $10 million per year and would be owed more than $25 million to buy out his contract if he's fired after another bad season in 2026, which he doesn’t plan on having.
“I don’t feel pressure,” Sanders told reporters. “You know how pressure is? That’s a single mama trying to make ends meet and ain’t no man in the house. And she gotta be the mother, the father, the provider, the disciplinarian and everything.”
By contrast, Sanders said, “This is football.”
“I’m really good at this,” Sanders said. “I can play this. I can coach this. I can do this, and, you know, if you don’t believe, you don’t believe. God bless you. I need that. I like that. You put me in my comfort zone now. I’d rather be booed than clapped for, applauding. Because if you start clapping too much, I’m not gonna trust you.”
Why Deion Sanders is in Colorado Springs
Colorado opened preseason camp Aug. 2 in Colorado Springs, where Sanders took his team away from campus in Boulder to induce better camaraderie and unity with so many players and coaches on the team. He said “no outside food” is coming in and players are required to be “off the phones” in order to help players bond with each other personally.
Meanwhile, during his stay so far, Sanders met the mayor of Colorado Springs, Yemi Mobolade, and spent time with Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, whose school is nearby.
He also came face to face with a deer on his morning walk. “Black folks ain’t used to that,” Sanders said.
He said he came within 10 yards with one.
“And I look, we made our contact, and I said, `You got it dog,’” Sanders said of the deer he encountered. “This you. It’s you. It’s your world. I don’t know nothing. I’m gone. I turned around and got up out of there.”
Whole new team for Deion Sanders
Just like in previous years, new faces abound after Sanders flipped the roster again with heavy turnover in the transfer portal. The Buffaloes will have a virtually new starting lineup on defense, led by Texas linebacker transfer Liona Lefau and Notre Dame cornerback transfer Cree Thomas.
They also have a slew of new assistant coaches: offensive coordinator (Brennan Marion), defensive coordinator (Chris Marve), running backs coach (Johnnie Mack), defensive line coach (Dante Carter), tight ends coach (Josh Niblett) and cornerbacks coach (Aaron Fletcher).
Sanders said wide receivers coach Jason Philips recently retired and will be replaced by Rashad Davis, who previously worked with Sanders at Jackson State.
When recruiting new players this time, Sanders said he was looking for a certain “mentality.”
“Because anybody that didn’t have it, we got rid of them,” Sanders said.
Deion Sanders is not on a traditional four-year building plan
He acknowledged the “revolving door” in college football in the age of unlimited annual player transfers. Sanders even lost one of his best recruits on the offensive line, Jordan Seaton, who left in January. for more money at LSU.
But he also noted that times have changed from the days when coaches were judged by what they built over the course of a four-year team building plan.
“It’s not like that anymore,” Sanders said. "You don’t keep. … You pray that you keep that freshman that you raised, that you groomed, that you developed. But when somebody’s waving four to five to six million dollars in front of them, you’re not gonna keep that freshman. Like, you would love to, but that’s not the nature of the game anymore. But you can’t wipe your tears. You can’t just sit there. I’m sorry, you can’t just sit there and cry a river.”
Danny Scudero injury
The Buffaloes so far have been practicing without wide receiver Danny Scudero, who is out with a leg injury. Scudero led the nation in receiving yards per game last year at San Jose State with 108.1 yards per game, but Sanders said he expects him back for the season opener Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech.
The Buffs still have plenty of talent at receiver, including Miami (Ohio) transfer Kam Perry and Texas transfer DeAndre Moore.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Deion Sanders feeling pressure at Colorado? No. 'I'm really good at this'
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