Deion Sanders delivers passionate locker room speech after Colorado loss to USC

Colorado lost, 48-41, to USC at home on Saturday, with a furious fourth quarter comeback effort falling short. And following the performance, head coach Deion Sanders gave a stirring speech to his team.

Sanders, in a three minute TikTok posted by his son, tells his team they have no reason to hang their heads after the effort they put in. But he also highlighted how a game where they played a full 60 minutes like they did in the second half, and especially the fourth quarter, might’ve turned out differently.

“Now you understand where we are. You understand what could, and should, and would’ve done if we would’ve played the first half like we played the second. One play here and there. Keeping contain, doing your assignment. Keeping the quarterback in the pocket. Making the plays, making the blocks. Getting that extra yard. You understand what could’ve happened. So understand that taste in your mouth, that you don’t want it again. Because I know we have something special here. You’ve gotta be a fool if you can’t see what we building here. I’m proud of each and every one of you,” Sanders said.

Sanders also gave specific shoutouts to two players who he’d been on both behind the scenes and publicly: cornerback Cormani McClain and wideout Omarion Miller.

McClain, a true freshman, played some significant time in the second half this week after struggling to adjust and mature and Miller had a monster game with 196 receiving yards and a touchdown.

“He had 196. Played like a man. Another guy I’ve been on his butt and I’m not going to let up,” Sanders said.

Then Sanders called up McClain.

“Cormani, where you at?” Sanders said, with teammates cheering. “I still love you, boy. I’m very proud of you. Let’s stay locked in, let’s stay focused, we’ve got a lot of work today. We’re going to come back with practices tomorrow, we’re going to get it right and we’re going to get it together.”

And on the whole, Sanders was pleased with the way his team stayed engaged throughout. He didn’t see players checking out on the bench or tapping out.

“You know how much I hate losing, because I’m a winner. You have nothing, nothing, nothing, not one thing to hang your head down on. You guys fought. You were resilient. You didn’t give up. You cold’ve quit. You could’ve tapped out. I was looking amongst the bench and I was going up and down, trying to see who was tapping out. Trying to see who lost focus. And I’m so darn proud of you all, man,” Sanders said.