Now that Deion Sanders seemingly has all of college football talking about spring exhibitions, from new North Carolina coach Bill Belichick to second-year Syracuse leader Fran Brown, a different Pro Football Hall of Fame Colorado coach also is seconding the notion.
Warren Sapp, a former Miami Hurricanes All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer from his dominant career with the Tampa Bay Bucs, is positively giddy at the thought of his Colorado defensive linemen digging in against ... well, anyone else.
"You just made my mouth water," Sapp proclaimed to a question about a spring exhibition contest between different college programs. "I get another (jersey) color that my boys can just go to work and whoop on 'em and we don't care? Please bring them in here. Who's coming? Who wants some of this?"
Sapp then instantly hearkened back to his professional days in the NFL and cited specific foes that he remembered the Bucs working against in preseason camp. Like Coach Prime, Sapp welcomed the thought of outside competition.
"I used to love that when I was in Tampa and they'd bring another team; the Redskins, Commanders now but back then, and the Dolphins," said Sapp, Colorado's pass rush coordinator. "Or, we'd go to Jacksonville and practice. It was always good to see another color because I ain't gotta care about whooping your ... I can whoop upside your head and get on the bus and go home, I don't care.
"But when you've got your teammates, you've got to kind of care a little bit. So, I'd love another team. Ooh, yes. Give me another O-line. And I can yell and cuss at their coach, too? Yeah, please!"
As for Sapp's own transition into college coaching, he said he's "addicted. I never thought I wanted this job, never thought I wanted to be here the amount of hours that I'm here, but oh my God do I love it and the babies react to it and we're having fun."
He's also already challenged his defensive line and the entire unit to elevate production when star quarterback Shedeur Sanders projected as a First Round pick in next month's NFL Draft.
"We don't have the best quarterback in the country anymore," Sapp said. "We're going to need to play some more D and turn the ball over more to our young quarterbacks. It's on us more, and I like it that way."
As for the most recent Pro Football Hall of Fame addition to the staff of Deion Sanders, Sapp said it gets no more elite than new running backs coach Marshall Faulk.
"You don't get a better knowledge," he said. "(Faulk) was in the backfield with Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner telling them about protections.
"Trust me, he knows this game. We love it. Me and him are both here for Prime."
"Please bring 'em in here. Who want some of this?"
— Nikki Edwards (@nikkiedwardsss) March 18, 2025
I asked coach Sapp on his interest in playing against another team during spring ball ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/4YBcoqOlCK
Colorado is set to conclude its spring with the annual Black & Gold Game on April 19.
The Buffaloes, coming off a breakthrough nine-win 2024 season, start their 2025 schedule in a Friday night primetime affair against Georgia Tech at Colorado's Folsom Field, a meeting of the two teams who shared the 1990 college football national championship.