Deion Sanders has always been a polarizing figure in American sport, dividing opinion from his playing days in the NFL and MLB, and all the way into his burgeoning coach career.
Prime Time is the new kid on the block, with his stint as the head coach at the Colorado Buffaloes causing ripples in a deep-rooted pond.
For someone like Skip Bayless to defend you against racial undertones, there must definitely be a whisper in the corridors of college football power – at least in the coaching arena.
“I’ve tried to tell you guys for two weeks there is a deep-rooted, venomous vengeance that is starting to manifest itself against Deion among white coaches,” Bayless said, “and I’m not gonna say they’re all white because we saw what Jay Norvell did just two weeks ago. It’s deep-rooted and seeded because Deion didn’t pay any dues that they all had to pay.”
Coach Prime led his team to a 3-0 record before a dismantling by the Oregon Ducks in week 4. The Buffaloes were downed 42-6 in a lop-sided encounter. Bayless was referring to comments made the week before, when the Boulder team played their Colorado State rivals, in a tense win.
There were plenty comments from Colorado State coach Jay Norvell and Ducks HC Dan Lanning in the build-up to both games.
Bayless and more believe that the way Sanders is shaking up the preconceived notions of college football coaching is leading to animosity.
“He has shattered the mold that we have talked and talked about because that’s who he is,” Bayless continued. “He is one of the greatest talkers in the history of sports. He is as entertaining an interview as there is in all of sports as we speak. He is playing to his strengths. He is in the midst of the greatest turnaround in college football history doing it his way. Not Dan Lanning’s way.”
Sanders, a two-time Superbowl champion and a World Series baseball competitor, will always be in the spotlight, and now as a HC, his role will be to take the pressure off his players by taking the hear.
Does not mean Bayless and crew won’t support Coach Prime all the way.
