Deion Sanders Holds Entire Colorado Locker Room Accountable, a Day After Singling Out Kaidon Salter

Deion Sanders is always known for his tough love. Last season, in November, the Buffs had a bad 37-21 fall against the Kansas Jayhawks. And Deion did not sugarcoat and came with a blunt message for his players. “Not one of you going to say you played your best game. Nobody is going to say you gave the maximum effort,” said Coach Prime. A year later, nothing really changed. After week 4, Colorado stands with two wins and two losses. And somehow, Deion is not happy with his players being just enough to keep their boats floating. But this time, he ditched a locker room setting to send his message to his players.

After beating Wyoming, Colorado sits No. 14 in the Big 12 with a 3.4 FPI, ahead of 2-2 West Virginia and 1-2 Oklahoma State. Deion’s program is projected to finish around 5–7 with just a 31% shot at six wins. With two losses already, including one in conference play, their Big 12 title and CFP hopes sit at a slim 0.1%. Now that they are going to face BYU on September 27, Deion held his players accountable. 

He was invited as the guest on the September 22nd episode of the New Heights podcast. That’s when the podcast host asked, “How did we walk into the building today?” Deion shared, “Yeah. You know what, man? The whole thing is accountability. That’s my word of the week.” Maybe that’s just Deion’s way of lifting the players’ morale. After all, flipping the script last minute has been Colorado’s trend lately. 

Last season, Colorado started its season 1-2, losing to Nebraska and BYU. But finally, Deion’s boys turned that 1-2 record into a 9-4 record (7-2 in Big 12 play), reaching their first non-COVID winning season since 2016. So, Coach Prime knows to poke where it hurts most, which would turn the players’ pain into purpose. The Buffs HC further added, “Everybody’s accountable, baby. Everybody’s accountable. We got to step it up. We got to go to the next level. And you can’t want the good, pretty, shiny stuff if you’re not ready to do the good, pretty, shiny things.” 

Forget Deion, even the players themselves are not happy with the feat they had put up. On September 17, Buffs insider Scott Procter tweeted, “Colorado TE Zach Atkins: ‘I’m not happy with how things are going right now … I’m a winner.’ ‘We need to turn it around.’” Their loss against the Houston Cougars left tight end Zach Atkins heartbroken. The Buffaloes traveled to face the Cougars and got manhandled. Offense stayed flat, while Deion’s defense got shredded. Even though they went home with a win against Wyoming, Coach Prime singled out Kaidon Salter and co.

Discipline and focus are the next hurdle for Deion Sanders’ squad

The Liberty Flames transfer became the first Colorado player in 30 years to record at least three passing touchdowns, zero interceptions, and 50-plus rushing yards in a single game. Deion counted on Salter to start the season opener vs. Georgia Tech (L 27-20), was briefly replaced by Ryan Staub for Delaware and Houston, then reclaimed the starting role against Wyoming.

But even then, they failed to woo Deion 100%. Points were deducted as he labeled his defense against Houston as “hot garbage.” While he saw improvement during the face-off against Wyoming, big holes, especially on third downs and long plays, persisted. Deion thus said, “I’m proud of you, but I’m not satisfied with you because we’re better than that.” 

Colorado racked up 2 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, and 7 pass deflections, yet penalties repeatedly let Wyoming extend drives. Discipline is the next hurdle. But what makes Deion catch side eyes? Instead of fixing the loopholes, the Buffs welcomed legendary rapper, Ice Cube, to the practice.

And this did not sit well with Deion Sanders and co.’s one of the biggest fans, Matt McChesney. On the Zero 2 Sixty podcast, he said, “And look, I love IceCube. I love NWA. This is awesome. I’m glad that he’s at in Boulder, but honestly, I’m sorry, but who gives a s–t? So the team plays that bad, and their prize is not a really hard day of practice. Their prize is not gassers. Their prize isn’t pushing sleds. Their prize isn’t scrimmaging until we find somebody that wants to actually play a position and tackle someone. Their prize is more celebrities talking.” Let’s see if Colorado can wipe their slate clean.