I’m sorry, but most of what Deion Sanders says makes no sense. And Big 12 Media Day proves it.
Coach Prime, as he likes to be called, was on hand for Big 12 Media Day with hoodie, shades and bedazzled whistle as expected. And he was also there with his usual confusing rhetoric. His cult member fans will defend his every word but rational people understand this — what Prime says today won’t be what he says tomorrow and his hypocrisy is alarming. But this time, it wasn’t hypocrisy that bit him in the butt. He just didn’t make sense.
Try this one on for size. When asked about Colorado fitting into the Big 12 he said this….
“Why would be trying to fit into anything? I ain’t never tried to fit into nothing … We don’t fit in, man. We fit out.”
What does that even mean? Those who speak Prime will say it means he wants his team to stand out and not become just another team in the Big 12. And that makes sense. But why not say that? Why not say something that makes sense? And why the “I” statement when asked about his team and the program? Because it’s all about Deion all the time as we’ve come to learn.
This one was even better when asked about wins.
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“I’m judged on a different scale. My wins are totally different than your wins. You’re just judging football.”
He continued…
“My wins are different. We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged. I’m cool with that because we come a little bit different. So the expectation is greater. But it’s not just football, it’s been like that all my life. … The expectation you have for me would never outweigh the expectation I have for myself.”
He droned on about how he can’t win nine games and have the school’s GPA suffer and how he can’t have high GPA players and not win games. He said that the character of the players the school recruits, whether from high school or through the transfer portal, are reflective of the head coach and his staff. He crowed about being more than willing to embrace that role.
So how the heck is that any different than every other coach at the Power Four level. Is Colorado suddenly an Ivy League school? Is one off-field issue going to bring the program down? Every coach is given the job to win football games, graduate players and keep everyone’s nose clean off the field. How is Deion different?
I can hear his cult member fans already. Prime gets judged more harshly than any other coach because of this, that and the other. They’ll point to race as the first card played and then talk about his fame and so on. But what they don’t understand is that he brings it upon himself
UConn head coach Dan Hurley said “it’s coming” a few years ago when talking about his basketball program and the losses they were being handed. And he was laughed at and ridiculed by many and it had nothing to do with race or his famous last name. He just shot his mouth off and people mocked and criticized. Hurley then made everyone pay — in a big way.
When Deion arrived at Colorado it was all about “we comin” and “better get us now” from the start. Deion began keeping “receipts” before his first kickoff. Three games into his Colorado tenure he had his son flashing expensive watches, his players talking smack and feeling themselves after a 3-0 start and then losing none of that arrogance after being drummed by Oregon and headed to losing 8 of their last 9 games. You talk the talk, people will criticize.
Deion is brash and always has been. As a player it was acceptable because he was so much better than the rest. As a coach it’s annoying because he’s one of the worst coaches in the Power Four early in his tenure. But his wins are different and he continues to talk the talk. So until he pulls a Hurley, which will never happen, we will continue to be baffled and annoyed at his arrogance, hypocrisy and downright inexperience in running a football program. And the cult members will continue to defend him.
