By Scott Salomon
For those of you that read this site frequently, you know how much admiration I have for Coach Prime in his capacity as the head football coach at Colorado. I still think he was the greatest cornerback to ever play the game. He certainly deserves his enshrinement in Canton. However, as the Colorado head coach, he has too many shortcomings and his ego always gets in the way.
Yes, I am the one who referred to Prime Time as Slime Time and said it would not work for Deion at Colorado.
He was much different when he was at Jackson State. I thought he was more approachable and more human. Now, he is just a publicity machine who cares mostly about himself and his sons.
I have been right when I said that it would not work in Colorado. If going 4-8 in 2023 and blowing a 29-0 halftime lead to Stanford was not enough for you to get ill, go buy your tickets to the Coach Prime Circus.
He hand-picked his team and they still lost 8-of-9 to end the season. You cannot compare them to the team that won one game the year before, because they were all new players.
However, more than 100 players have transferred out of Boulder since Deion Sanders became the head coach and it tends to lead to “dysfunction and disruption”. Coach Prime has become so accustomed to dysfunction, so much so, it should be inscribed on the back of his hoodies.
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A significant portion of Prime’s initial incoming freshman class, including cornerback Cormani McClain and running back Dylan Edwards have opted out of the Buffaloes program and have moved on to what they hope are greener pastures.
McClain was the top-rated cornerback coming out of high school and was to pair with Travis Hunter to become the hottest cornerback tandem in college football history.
It never happened.
McClain entered Prime’s doghouse and stayed there so long he was compelled to pay rent. He saw the field only when Hunter went down with a lacerated liver against Colorado State and missed a few games. McClain transferred to Florida where he hopes to restart his career.
Former safety Xavier Smith called out Prime’s coaching style and of his staff and he was rebuked by quarterback and coaches son, Shedeur Sanders. Smith talked candidly about his dismissal and how Prime treated the players.
The quarterback is supposed to be a leader. He is supposed to build up players, not tear them down. What he and Prime did to Smith was inexcusable. Sanders, the quarterback, should have shown his maturity and his leadership and kept his mouth closed, and let his dad defend his actions himself.
“He (Prime) was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves,” Smith said. “The way he did it, it could’ve been done with a little more compassion. I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes. Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me.”
This exchange between Shedeur Sanders and former Buffs DB Xavier Smith 😳
(via The Athletic) pic.twitter.com/SgBd5yrZ8M
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2024
Prime also brought in Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp to serve as an assistant coach for the defensive line. He could be a great teacher. However, Sapp is a domestic violence problem waiting to happen. He has a horrible past around women and has been arrested on more than one occasion for heinous acts towards the opposite sex.
Is a college campus really the right place for Warren Sapp? I would tend to say no. His Alma Mater, the University of Miami, hired Jason Taylor, also a Pro Football Hall of Famer to coach their defensive line. Sapp was never a thought.
In April, Prime allegedly told his players they had to attend a Lil Wayne concert during spring game weekend, where Shedeur Sanders was going to serve as the opening act as he was debuting a new rap song he wrote.
A source claims that Deion Sanders made a Lil Wayne concert that his son Shedeur opened for mandatory for all players under threat of being removed from the team, and that this motivated multiple players to transfer out. https://t.co/obPSyjYat9 pic.twitter.com/EmElWezWAr
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) June 14, 2024
Prime denied it was mandatory, but word leaked out and it brought more attention to Prime and to the University. According to a report in Athlon Sports, the requirement to attend the concert was a final straw for many players, and once spring practice concluded, they high-tailed it out of Boulder and hit the portal. Either way, it’s a bad look.
As I’ve shown, Coach Prime is a full three-ring circus. One of these days, he is going to pack up his tent and go somewhere else. He will bring his show to some other city and likely get paid a lot of money to do it. People need to realize when you have Coach Prime, you are paying for the sizzle and not the steak.
