It will be the first time in a long while that Deion Sanders won’t be coaching his son Shedeur. Despite this, Coach Prime didn’t miss the chance to highlight where the quarterback’s greatest strength truly lies. The Colorado Buffaloes head coach will face the upcoming NCAAF season without either of his sons on the team.
While staying focused on the upcoming spring practices, Deion Sanders spoke with the press and revealed how he will approach this season without Shedeur on the team, and how the lack of his son’s key quality will impact the normal flow of the game.
“You would see Shedeur sitting there, going on the sideline, talking to those guys,” Sanders said. “And I always used to tell him to look them in your eyes so they can see where you are and see how passionate you are about the next possession. You want to see that type of leadership, because I know what they have seen. The standard is the standard and we’re not going vacillate from the standard.”
The void left by Shedeur after his departure for the upcoming NFL draft is something the coach still needs to address. For now, Sanders is clear about what will be essential for his starting QB to take the field in Week 1.
“Leadership. Leadership,” the Buffaloes HC said. “Being able to see the field. Being able to rally those guys around. Because you got to understand, you got to have a bona fide leader. Why are you asking me that? I’m glad you asked. Because you don’t huddle. You rarely huddle in college football. So, those guys have to get the look of the quarterback’s eyes and see what he is consisted of. Is he still composed? They really do that.”
Deion reflects on the criticism of his sons
Both Shedeur and Shilo have declared themselves eligible for the upcoming NFL draft, meaning their future starting next season will no longer be in College Football. Their decision to take the next step in their careers sparked controversy and divided opinions, with Deion stepping up to defend his sons in the face of criticism.
“First of all, it’s a blessing,” Sanders said. “They received a lot more ignorance than I did. You know, I received something, but we didn’t have the social media channels and all the different things that’s privy today … I mean, you got to understand I was a two sport guy at the time, so you could imagine what it would have been like with all the hate in the naysayers. I was a little different. It was a team I wanted to go to that made it possible for me to go to that team and that team only because I had the leverage of playing baseball, and I’m thankful that the Atlanta Falcons chose me. That’s where I wanted to go.
“My kids don’t have the luxury of saying where they want to go. We would never do such a thing. And I told you, if that’s what would come to that, I would quietly talk to that team behind the curtains. I would never put them on blast for nothing of the sort. Shilo is working his butt off … I can’t wait to see how sharp he is. Shedeur is a workaholic. You guys know that he is who he is, and sometimes people forget what he’s accomplished here at CU and how accurate and how good he is, because you got to take a shot at somebody, and you might as well take a shot as a Sanders, we built for this.”