Deion Sanders walked into his post bye press conference sounding equal parts energized, frustrated, and fiercely determined. He joked with reporters about the break, ribbed a few about where they went and what they did, and then shifted into the honesty that has become a theme all too common this season.
It did not take long for Sanders to deliver his message. He needs time, and he believes he deserves it.
“This is what I do. This is who I am,” Sanders said when asked how he continues pushing through cancer recovery, mounting losses, and the sudden Rick George transition. “If a loss can influence me to shut it down, what does a win influence me to do I got to rock steady. I got to be the same guy.”
Sanders insisted that Colorado’s record is not indicative of who his players and staff truly are. He emphasized that every practice and every snap in these final two games will be treated like championship reps, not only for development but for evaluation.
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“We are evaluating young men as well as the staff,” he said. “You want to see that passion. When it goes left, that is when you take an eye and look at the room. Is there consistency or were you waiting to attack the whole time”
Sanders was asked directly about missed evaluations in the offseason, a question that could have flustered a lesser coach. Instead, he delivered one of his bluntest admissions of the year.
“I had not forgotten how to coach in a year,” he said. “A lot of these wonderful coaches that are not winning this season, they had not forgotten either. We did some things we should not have done. That is on us.”
Sanders made it clear that next year’s roster may be dramatically different. “You may lose ten to twelve percent,” Sanders said of the coming portal cycle. “We know who is talking to who. But we are prepared for everything. It will not surprise us.”
Reporters then pressed Sanders on setbacks, on his health, and why the rebuild has stalled in year three. Sanders stayed firm, even fiery.
“If anybody is built for adversity, I am,” he said. “If anybody is built to overcome situations and trials and tribulations, I am. You have the right man.”
He paused, letting the room settle, then delivered the line that defined the day.
“Just give me an opportunity and give me a little more time and I am going to prove that to you. I will. I promise you that.”
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