Nebraska vs. Colorado Represents Clash of Civilizations

by T.J. Birkel

Let me say this: I don’t hate Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime. I actually find him kind of intriguing, and he’s always entertaining. If he wasn’t coaching at one of Nebraska’s most hated rivals, I think we would all enjoy watching the Coach Prime show from afar. 

I’ll take it one step further: I’ve enjoyed watching some of the clips of him as a coach, going back to his time at Jackson State. When he talks to his teams, I see a man preaching old school values: hard work, accountability, doing your job, no shortcuts. You can see why he was such a successful athlete in multiple sports. 

But you also have to wonder what’s going on behind the scenes in Boulder. There was the news over the summer that Coach Prime doesn’t go on recruiting visits. At the same time, he seems to be keeping up his schedule of corporate speaking engagements and TV commercials. I’m all for a man making money, but that’s time that’s not being spent building a championship program. There was also the time his two sons who play for Colorado – quarterback Shedeur Sanders and defensive back Shilo Sanders – missed team activities to participate in a fashion show, apparently with the coach’s blessing. There appears to be a fascinating contrast between Deion Sanders, highly successful athlete and coach (which he was at Jackson State; it remains to be seen if he can get there at Colorado), and Coach Prime, the flashy self-promoter. 

Rhule vs. Prime

As Nebraska’s much anticipated matchup with Colorado nears, it’s hard not to notice the differences between how Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule goes about building his team vs. what we see from Deion Sanders. Rhule is invested in every small detail of the program, from recruiting to player development to game planning and more. He consults with athletic director Troy Dannen on big picture issues like scheduling, NIL, and the future of college football. He is fully invested in building a winner in Lincoln, and it appears he wants to be here for the long term. 

Contrast that with the Prime approach. There was a clip going around last fall where it appeared…

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