Colorado University Athletics
Coach Prime’s Legendary Work Ethic Will Establish Baseline For Buffs
December 30, 2022 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — If Colorado football players want to set a standard for themselves when it comes to a dedicated work ethic, they won't have to look far for an example.
New Buffaloes coach Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders earned a reputation throughout his college and pro careers as the hardest worker on the team — whether it was as a collegian at Florida State, an NFL star for five different franchises or a Major League Baseball standout for four different teams.
It's a good bet that Sanders will encourage that same kind of work ethic from the Buffs when they return to campus to begin preparation for the 2023 season.
Sanders was no doubt blessed with outstanding physical gifts. But plenty of equally talented athletes never reached the heights Sanders attained. The difference was his passionate approach to wanting to be the best and his willingness to work toward that goal — whether it be in film study, practice reps or conditioning work.
That work ethic became a part of his preparation at an early age. At Florida State, legendary coach Bobby Bowden called him one of the hardest workers he ever coached.
The young man who would one day become Coach Prime carried that work ethic with him throughout his professional career.
"We couldn't even get any reps in practice because Deion would take them all," former Cowboys cornerback Kevin Mathis recently told ESPN. "He practiced like it was a game. He treated football like a job. He had fun, but he took it seriously."
Sanders took that work ethic with him to every stop. Former teammates and Colorado legends Mike Pritchard (Falcons) and Michael Westbrook (Redskins) both said his approach to practice and film study made a clearly talented athlete into a Hall of Fame player.
"He was an unbelievable athlete and you could see the speed, the confidence, the power," Pritchard said. "Everything that you could admire as an athlete yourself he possessed as a player. But his work ethic was unmatched. He would take every single rep in defensive drills in practice if he could. He was preparing himself to be conditioned the right way. He wanted to know everything and see everything. He had a passion to compete."
Coach Prime's NFL career included eight Pro Bowl selections and six All-Pro designations, capped by an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played with the Falcons, 49ers, Cowboys, Redskins and Ravens — and at every stop, he made an impression as someone who wanted to make sure he left no stone unturned when it came to producing success.
"No one saw all of the time he put into preparing and studying to be great," former Cowboys standout Darren Woodson told ESPN. "It was like he was a boxer preparing for a fight. He knew everything about the dude across from him."
Sanders also enjoyed a successful professional baseball career, which once resulted in him completing the rare feat of hitting an MLB home run and scoring an NFL touchdown in the same week. He seldom played enough games in a season to earn MLB accolades, but was a valuable addition to every team for which he played.
Former Colorado baseball standout and MLB All-Star Jay Howell was a teammate of Sanders with the Atlanta Braves. There, Sanders played behind Otis Nixon in center field.
"He could have been an everyday starter elsewhere," Howell remembered. "But (manager) Bobby Cox liked him to come off the bench late in games and loved to double switch or have him steal a bag late. It worked."
But what Howell remembers most about Sanders is the way he handled himself in a role where he wasn't the star or even starter.
"He had to sit and wait for his playing time," Howell said, "(but) he never complained and was the hardest worker on our team. It was extraordinary how he put the team first. The Buffs got a good one."
Indeed — and now Sanders is turning that work ethic and relentless passion into the recruiting realm. He is already attracting top talent from across the nation and has almost overnight made Colorado relevant again in the national picture.
What has quickly become evident is that great players want to play for Coach Prime. They want to be part of what he is building in Boulder.
But when they arrive, they will find far more than the public persona that made Coach Prime a national icon.
What they will see first-hand is his tireless approach and behind-the-scenes work that truly sets the stage for being the best.
