Deion Sanders makes bold Colorado claim: 'We're going to exceed their expectations'

Deion Sanders formally landed the worst-kept secret commitment this week in all of college football, and Colorado’s first-year head coach also leaned into – and against – the prognosticators for his inaugural Buffaloes squad.

Greeting a select group of Colorado Buffaloes supporters, ‘Coach Prime’ refused to declare how many wins his first Colorado team – and first-ever Power-5 team as a collegiate head coach – would amass in 2023.

But Sanders, who’s recently unveiled his own version of an ‘Optimus Prime’ truck and helped drive record ticket sales in Boulder, Colorado, vowed to surpass outside expectations for the Buffaloes’ program this fall.

Expert oddsmakers in Las Vegas have set the Colorado win total at an over-under of 4.5 victories.

“I don’t know. I can’t give you that,” Sanders said when quizzed by the crowd about how many wins to expect in Year 1. “So, we’re going to exceed their expectations; we’re going to exceed their expectations.

“And I guarantee you when you play against us, you’re going to know you played against us. You’re going to know that, you’re going to feel it. I cannot wait till you see.”

Sanders, whose son, Shilo, formally added himself to the Colorado roster this weekend, likewise issued a stern warning to detractors focused on how many players – more than 50 – have departed the Colorado program since the conclusion of the 2022 campaign.

“Everybody makes a big deal of what’s not here,” ‘Coach Prime’ said on camera, “but you need to start making a big deal of what’s coming. Because what’s coming is far greater than what’s gone.”

Sanders, both a College Football and Pro Football Hall of Famer, also said he has maintained a direct approach with his players who want to benefit from the still-developing Name, Image and Likeness opportunities but also wanted to be regarded as amateur athletes.

“You can’t want a bag of money. You want to be paid like a professional but treated like a child,” Sanders said. “That don’t work. If you want to be compensated like a pro, they’re going to treat you like a pro. You got kids out there working their butts off at these local restaurants, these local businesses, right? Just to make it through college. Then you got a kid coming in here with a luxury car that really hasn’t done nothing, then he messes around and drops a ball that’s decisive in the game, and you think they’re going to feel sorry for you? If you’re going to be motivated by the claps, you gotta be motivated by the boos.

“We let them know they’re going to be some ups and downs, but you’ve got to get your butt back up. One of the things that I said (to Colorado’s trainers), ‘Look, I’m old school. I don’t run out there unless I see bone or blood.’ I’m straight up. If we run up there and he has a shoulder that’s hurt, I will run out there and say, ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with your legs. Get up.’ That’s what life does. We’ve got to prepare these kids for life.”

Coach Prime's first schedule at Colorado serves no favors; the Buffaloes open with a road game against College Football Playoff runner-up TCU and then return home to host longtime rival Nebraska.