Deion Sanders: Everything he said at Big 12 Media Days

FRISCO, Texas — It sure was “Prime Time” in Frisco when Colorado Buffaloes Head Coach Deion Sanders took the stage at Big 12 Media Days Wednesday. 

A flock of journalists gathered around the stage when the Dallas Cowboys legend approached the mic, which is nothing out of the norm when it comes to Sanders. 

During his address, he touched on various topics, including his gratefulness for Commissioner Brett Yormark and everything that he’s done for the conference. He also showed appreciation to every other coach in attendance for their continuous thoughts during his ongoing, undisclosed health issues. 

Watch the full press conference below:

During his opening statement to the media, Coach Sanders thanked God, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and Colorado’s Athletic Director Rick George. He also praised the other coaches in the league for reaching out to him and checking on him during his health battles. 

“I know we have the best commissioner in college football, a man that has called me daily, checked on me, make sure I’m straight, make sure I’m getting better and better, and I love you to life, my brother. I know you’re somewhere clean as the board of health right now. And I love you to life and you are absolutely the best,” Sanders said about the commissioner. “Rick, my AD. Love you to life. You’ve always believed. You’ve always been a man of a standard, and I thank you for giving me a tremendous opportunity. To coaches of the Big 12 are incredible. I love them. They’ve been calling and checking on me, making sure I’m straight. But you talk about knowing football, teaching football, communicating with their kids, none of this stupid animosity or jealousy. I love the coaches of the Big 12. I want to beat them all, but I love them. I truly do.”

When asked about his health challenges that he vaguely mentioned, Sanders deflected, saying he preferred to keep the focus on his team and even criticized The Athletic publication. He added that he’s “living lovely” and “looking good,” crediting God for his outlook and blessings.

“The Athletic, sometimes y’all be on that bull-junk, so I’m really not gonna tell you much,” Sanders said. “All right, you know that, but I’m not here to talk about my health. I’m here to talk about my team.”

The Buffaloes’ head coach also spoke about the team’s QB situation. Sanders brought both Julian Lewis and DFW native Kaidon Salter (Cedar Hill HS) with him to media days, which he says is because he’s not quite sure yet as to which direction they will go. 

Sanders said, however, he’s not opposed to playing both.

“As long as they’re doing their jobs and we win it, we definitely want to continue to develop Juju, but Kaidon is unbelievable,” Sanders said of his quarterbacks. “He’s been there, done that. He could get the job done. I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t trust him. But, Juju is coming around the mountain when he comes. I love it. I love what he brings to the table. I don’t know how it’s gonna play out as long as it plays out. We can’t lose either way with either of those two.”

Sanders said Colorado’s 2023 season-opening win over TCU was “everything” and the true beginning of his college coaching career. He said he’s excited to return to Texas for games this year, calling it his “second home” and noting the opportunity to improve recruiting in the state.

Sanders added he’s looking forward to playing both TCU and Houston on the road this season.

“I’m excited about coming back to Texas to play because, you know, this is my second home now, but I absolutely love it. [TCU] have a wonderful coach as well, and I’m pleased and I’m thankful,” Sanders said about playing TCU in Texas. “We go to Houston as well, so I can’t wait. We have two games in Texas, which is phenomenal and which allows us to recruit tremendously. So I’m happy about that.”

Sanders called for a salary cap on NIL deals to regulate the transfer portal market. He questioned how players could receive multimillion-dollar offers without entering the portal and called for enforcement of existing rules. 

The Buffaloes’ head coach also proposed adopting professional rules in college football, including two feet inbounds for catches, pro-style pass interference penalties, and stricter uniform guidelines. “Let’s have more respect for the tremendous game,” he said.

“Now I could go all day when you talk about making the changes, but we have a pretty good game, a darn good game, one of the best games I think in sports,” Sanders said. “That’s why we attract so many people, especially the Colorado Buffaloes. We attract so many eyeballs. You wanna see us win, you wanna see us lose, but you wanna see us. But I wish we could implement some of those things. It’s just 3 off the top of my head.”