New Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders met his new players for the first time Sunday and set some ground rules.
At one point in the team meeting Sunday, Sanders laid down team rules that included no earrings, hats, or hoodies in meetings. Sanders mentioning no hats made one player on the team way in the back take his hat off immediately.
“Everybody’s going to look like everybody,” Sanders said. “… By now you’re about to feel it. You can feel what I’m saying. You can feel where I’m coming from and you know I ain’t playing because I’ve got the credentials to back it up.”
The goal for Sanders is clear and that is to increase exposure for the program, attract top recruits and boost the fame of his players, helping them increase opportunities to earn money from their NILs, which was allowed for the first time last year in the NCAA.
“We know how to do social media,” Sanders told his team.
“The kids, they want exposure,” Sanders said. “They want to be on television. They want the lights and the action, but they got to understand, the same thing that caused you to shine will show your blemishes as well. So we’re going to give them that. We’re going to give them the followers. We’re going to give them the attention. We’re going to give them the support, and we need each and every one of you, because the caliber of players that we’re getting ready to bring to you, they gonna want something. But guess what, I’m going to want something back. I’m not crazy about the NILs, but I understand the NILs. … I’d rather our kids be focused on the NFL, and not just the NIL.”
It’s a carryover from his tenure at Jackson State in Mississippi, where his team went 12-0 this season and will be part of a docuseries on Sanders that will premier on Amazon Prime.
His nickname isn’t “Prime Time” for nothing.
