Deion Sanders on culture at Colorado: 'I don't care about culture'

Deion Sanders was always brash and backed it up, but he didn’t credit it to culture. Now he can do the same at Colorado as its head coach in his own unique way.

Sanders isn’t a fan of the word or the philosophy of culture, necessarily. Coach Prime just wants to win at all costs. To do so, the players will get along on the field and let the play do the talking, not the unity or camaraderie.

We’ll let Sanders explain this one in the only way he knows how.

“I’m not welcoming to that word, culture,” Sanders said, via ESPN. “That’s all I heard when I was in Jackson. Culture, culture, culture, culture, culture. Now culture, culture. What the heck does that mean? I don’t think you got to have unity whatsoever. You got to have good players.”

Good players Colorado does have now, thanks to the transfer portal. At least on paper, the Buffaloes had a solid, but mostly unproven roster in the context of Power Five football.

Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son, and Travis Hunter, a former top recruit who chose Jackson State over Florida State in his recruitment process, both followed Coach Prime from HBCU football to the Pac-12. 

“I don’t care about culture. I don’t care. I don’t care if they like each other, man. I want to win,” Sanders said. “I’ve been on some teams where the quarterback didn’t like the receiver, but they darn sure made harmony when the ball was snapped.”

It seems like whatever culture Sanders is talking about, or not talking about, is working in Boulder. The spring game was sold out back in April and set a new precedent for modern day football at Colorado.

“This was the beginning of everything in the direction that we go right now,” Sanders said after the spring game. “You all know that we’re going to move on from some of the team members and we’re going to reload and get some kids that we really identify with. This process is going to be quick, it’s going to be fast, but we’re going to get it done.”

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A rebuilding process that’ll take a team from 1-11 in 2022 to a contender seems far-fetched, but Sanders won everyone he played and coached. Went 27-6 at Jackson State and won back-to-back conference titles to end his tenure. That wasn’t by accident.

He brought his new-age coaching, football expertise and swagger to his programs. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was a superstar at Florida State, the NFL where he won multiple Super Bowls and was the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and on the sideline as a head coach.

Heck, “Primetime” is great on television too, which is part of the appeal at Colorado before the first snap of the season.

Whether Sanders cares about culture or not, and he says he doesn’t, there’s no question Colorado’s culture is one to watch intently.