Weekly Press Conference Quotes

Quotes from Colorado football head coach Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders and junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders from the Buffaloes' weekly press conference ahead of the Nebraska game:

Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders

Opening Statement
"Travis (Hunter) broke three school records, first player in 20 seasons to have 100 yards receiving and an interception nationally. Dylan (Edwards) broke three school records for true freshman last 27 years nationally to score a touchdown in his FBS debut. Jimmy (Horn Jr.) broke two school records. We're the national team of the week. Four Buffs over 100 yards receiving. First time with two receivers having 11 plus catches. Shedeur broke nine school records and Kordell Stewart called me not happy about it. First player with 500 plus yards in FBS debut nationally since 1996. What that means is we have some gentlemen that can play this game, but that does not mean anything going into this week. It's a whole new focus, whole new understanding on what's at stake. This is a rivalry as we understand now. It's a rivalry, we take it very seriously. First home game in front of Buff nation. And we had a good practice today. We really did. I thought we could have took it up a notch with our focus but we had a pretty good practice today overall."

On Building Outside In
"When you talk about it people say I build outside in because I'm a DB and I played receiver and I played skilled positions so you would think that. But our line, offensively, did pretty darn well. Defensively, it looks like we played like garbage because we surrendered so many yards and points and we're gonna fix that. But we have depth at both of those positions to get us to the destinations that we desire. So it's not like we're just structured to build outside in, my attractability to skill level players is just a bit more than the d-line and o-line, but trust me, they comin. Those d-line and o-line, trust me they comin."

On Sean Lewis
"A guy that can take this offense to another level. We've always had success, defensively, tremendously at our prior stops. Offensively, we've had success as well. Brett Bartolone did a wonderful job, Coach Pollock did a wonderful job. They were my former two OC's. We just wanted to up the ante and go to the next level and also take Shedeur to another level. And he was ready. He was ready for the challenge, not just with the play calling and the dynamics of the plays and the structure of the offense, but with the personnel as well. I mean, I've been telling you ladies and gentlemen we have some tremendous athletes on the offensive side of the ball as well as the defense as well."

On Going From HC To OC
"A tremendous opportunity. Not just the players seek opportunities. I think the coaching staff as well. We still have several coaches on the staff that their dreams and ambitions are to be a head coach at a power five level and it's my objective to help them get there. I want that for them more than anything, especially since I know that's what they desire. I'm going to help them get to their point."

On Offensive Line
"We felt like the line was suffice, we felt like we had backs that could run the ball, the line was gonna do its job and we know Shedeur is Shedeur. You guys didn't know that because some guys are not intimate with this team and you're outside of the crib, you know, commenting on what's going on inside. But that offensive line you got to give them credit man. Everybody was talking about we're small, but we got out there two 6'9" guys. Where are you getting that from? But we got to improve running the football because the running backs that we have are tremendous. You're gonna see a couple more things this week and featuring a couple more of those guys that didn't really get a lot of touches last week. Hopefully they get opportunities this week. But that line did a phenomenal job, offensively, and they could do better."

On QB Shedeur Sanders And S Shilo Sanders Brotherly Competition
"Well they competed at everything. But as a parent it's a good thing. I'm gonna say it, they argue about who has the most money in the bank. I like that because it's not who's spending the most, who has the most stuff, it's like who has the most in the bank. I love to hear that argument. I love it and then it gets on my nerves and I say let's stop it. But they go at it and compete all the time and I like it because it pushes them. They've been doing it since they were shorties, I mean, coming out the womb and I really like that Shilo in the back end he's the verbal leader back there defensively and Shedeur does what he does. But I love the brotherly competition. It won't stop, trust me."

On Nebraska Rivalry
"Well, rivalries are rivalries. There's some more severe than others. I think everywhere you go coach from high school or from youth league on up you're going to have rivalries and just learning the dynamics of the different rivalries. I like it, it's delightful. So I've learned the severity, the serious nature of this rivalry and I'm embracing it 100%. This is personal. That's the message of the week. This is personal."

On Nebraska
"They're well coached. I do admire their coach tremendously. I mean, what he did at Baylor I know things didn't go the way they desired to go in Carolina. But just that opportunity and doing what he did is something that some aspire to, I don't aspire to go to the NFL, but some aspire to go to. But I like him, he's done a phenomenal job with that team and trying to get them in the right direction. They play hard, they play tough, they're physical, they dot I's and cross T's and trust me they're not going to lay down at any means. They're going to come in here and be prepared for a dogfight. They know the athleticism that we feature and what we come to the table with, so it should be a tough game. I think we may have a couple of players that played for me once that's on that team as well."

On His Health
"Well forget me. I was thankful that the kids made it. You know what I'm really happy about? That we didn't suffer from the heat exhaustion, we didn't allow it to affect us. I think we ended up with six or seven penalties which was phenomenal. You guys say we just met, are you guys on the same page and all that, but this, it was phenomenal. Me. My health is my health. Just to lead them out and run out of the tunnel was enough for me. I did what I needed to do. Now it's time for them to get on. My health is going to be crazy, I'm going to take meds, I'm going to shoot it up, I'm going to do what I have to do to make it through, but this is about the kids."

On The Heisman
"Well, I think we have three of them in Heisman contention right now. And Travis, what he's capable of doing, I've been saying that since he got here and since he got to Jackson when I first laid eyes on him. The kid is different. As the young folks are saying now, he's phenomenal. He loves the game. He gets upset. Like I told he and Dylan I don't want to see them practicing until Wednesday so they're gonna start work tomorrow which gave them a few days off to get their bodies recuperated. But this young man loves the game of football and you try to find out intangibles about his life so you can recruit to that. You try to find out what makes him tick. What makes him him and you recruit to that. You're not going to find anyone in the country with that talent. But what the thought process and how he goes about life, that's what you're trying to identify and it goes like young men that can accompany him on his journey."

On ATH Travis Hunter
"I love him. Travis is like a darn son to me. Travis got a tear out of my eye last week, man. I'm a fisherman. He's a fisherman and he brought me a little lunchbox looking thing which was a reel. It was a reel inside that was unbelievable. You know, you can't even get tangled up with this reel, you can't get a bird's nest with this reel. It was phenomenal and he has the rod coming with it. He's telling me but he's teasing me, he's giving me piece by piece. But just for him to care enough to understand that that's what I love and that's what we share in common. So I love that young man to life. It has nothing to do with his athleticism. I just love him as a person. He's a tremendous human being."

On Nebraska Back In The Day
"They were unbelievable. One of my dearest friends Broderick Thomas played for Nebraska and I can remember on one of my bye weeks in college I went to see him play and I saw the crowd and the way they responded and it was unbelievable. But I think I played them, I don't know, I think it was my freshman season. We went to play in Nebraska and I'm pretty sure we won. But it was a tremendous sight to see how they love football."

On Cormani McClain and Alton McCaskill
"Well, Cormani, he has to be ready. He has to get ready. He has to get ready to play. McCaskill, he's close. He was mad today because he took it upon himself to take his gold jersey off and we didn't tell him to. I'm like, I don't want you hit in practice. I want you to make it to the game. But he wants it so bad. He wants it right now and we're gonna monitor him and see. He shouldn't have dressed out because I wasn't going to play him, that wasn't going to happen. But the kid wants to play right now and we got to make sure he's ready and he's prepared."

On Defense Not Winning Heisman
"Because they want action. They want action, they want to see plays made and it's hard to make plays when the play is not designed for you to make it. You got to be so aggressive and so dominant as Charles Woodson was to be able to command that type of attention and make those types of plays where you actually win the Heisman. Just having the audacity to get on the offensive side of the ball and be dominant, that gives him the upper hand. He's tremendous. You have so many young men in high school that play both ways. And all these coaches promise them that they're going to be able to continue to do that when they come to this institution and they're lying. They're just doing it to get them. I haven't seen it. I just haven't seen it happen. And I told them I'm not hard to find. I know how to do it, I know how to monitor it, I know how to make sure that you are where you need to be. But the rule I have is that you must be dominant on one side of the ball before I allow you to go to the other side. You must be dominant. And I feel as though Travis had proved his dominance on either side of the ball and he's in incredible shape as well."

On S Trevor Woods And S Myles Slusher
"Trevor has been consistent. That's why he started. He's been tremendously consistent at understanding the playbook, getting guys lined up and doing his job. And he did his job tremendously in that game. Slush has been a guy that's been consistent. We ask a lot of him not only on the defensive side of the ball but on special teams. Well, Slush is banged up, I don't think he's going to play this week. He's banged up and I want to do what's best for him right now instead of what's best for us right now. I don't want him just lagging and continuing this. I'd rather him go if he has to get a minor surgery, let's go get it right now so you'd be ready for the run because we're going to make a run."

On Improvements
"We got to stop the run. We got to tackle a lot better. Linebackers got to do their jobs. Coach Kelly called a great game. We must execute the calls. Great game, great calls. You know what's supposed to happen, but when it doesn't happen you get upset and I can't get upset with the coach, I'm upset with the kid because I know what's supposed to happen. We got to hold those young men accountable, and we will and we have. So he called a great game, but we must be better defensively because that in turn gives us more opportunities to score. But the thing about that last game, the way it was going, and scoring scoring, I just said to myself as long as Shedeur has the ball last, we're good. Because he's gonna get us in, he's gonna get us there. I've seen it his whole life so I'm very secure with him."

On The Hype
"I want them to read the headlines because I'm not stupid enough to think that they're not. I hate when coaches say oh don't read your clips. No, read your clips because you balled out. I want you to read, but you got to understand everything they say ain't true. Either way, either way. And we start winning, not in the news press and not on Saturday, but we started today. We started with the scouting report today and understanding today. Yesterday, probably half the team was in watching film and getting prepared and studying. So I love that aspect of who these young men are and what they want but they've seen the results of hard work and labor. They've seen that all we got to do is win. You see all the attention we're getting? Like that has registered now and I think there's some things that they couldn't fathom, that they didn't understand that it could happen. Because the light is shining upon us and we're thankful for that. But these young men they know now if we just balled out, we're gonna get the love that we desire. That's all they want. They want attention, focus and a little love and light. And ain't nothing wrong with that as long as they use it in the right way."

On QB Shedeur Sanders Growth
"We're in Boulder, Colorado at a power five. I think the press conferences are a little larger than they were last year. I think the notoriety and intelligence component it's a little larger than it was last year, much larger than it was in high school even though we had shows that showed on social media and so forth. He's been the consistent, same guy and that's what I love about him. He's rock steady. He doesn't allow the attention and focus and the lights to turn him or deter him or to lead him in a certain direction. He is who he is unapologetically, he's going to speak his mind. He's not abrasive whatsoever, but he's a very intelligent young man. So when he talks you might want to listen because what he's saying is not to be offensive, he's just saying to educate and inform because he's trying to tell you what he sees. And that's the first thing I ask him when he comes off the field. What do you see? What did you see? He says, I didn't like that, that wasn't good, that wasn't good for us. That's cool. Let's go with it, next series, let's be ready. So he shakes it off, and he's ready for the next series. But he analyzes everything on and off the field and that's something that you want from a quarterback. You want to know their lifestyle, how they act on and off the field, because that stuff translates."

On Alumni Showing Up
"I don't know. I'm so locked in on what we have to do, I'm not locked in on who's coming. Although I have some friends definitely coming in that you guys are gonna love. But I don't know about the alumni. All I do know is if they decide to come, we have true instructions to take care of. To make sure they feel at home, to make sure they feel comfortable, to make sure they feel like they were a part of this process and they were. I wouldn't be here in this building if it weren't for them."

On AP Poll Ranking
"I don't care what no one says about where we should be ranked. I don't care about the ranking. I care about how we practice tomorrow. That's what I'm caring about right now. That ranking doesn't have a record does it? No, the ranking doesn't have a record."

Shedeur Sanders, Jr., QB

Can you talk about some of your feelings pregame? Can you talk a little bit about the level of intensity and focus?
"The focus was there all the way, we've been there. We talked about it. We had great preparation and pre-game. I just got flashbacks I had seen before. When we got out there for the first drive, I said 'okay' they're not moving differently. They aren't moving way faster than you know the teams I used to play. So I'm like "okay cool," in practice we get it faster from the defense than what we got. So we just out-schemed them and had a great day."

How did you feel you played on Saturday?
"I feel like it was alright, feel like I missed a lot of stuff and could've had bigger numbers. I watched the game and saw the bad clips yesterday, it really left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm just motivated to get out there and have more perfection."

Do you think you're the best Quarterback in the country?
"It's a biased question, of course I think that. I think the majority of Quarterbacks are competitive. So that's just for everybody to decide, but of course I personally think that I am."

Do you all feel like you're bought into this rivalry week, with the weight it holds?
"I mean what's the weight? It's game two for us. Just need to focus, we already got game one out of the way. That's behind us, I don't like talking or thinking about it anymore and we have to move on to the next thing. We understood that was our first time playing together and really being in the foxhole with the guys. Really understanding that I can count on the guys around me, I could count on the O-line to be there for me. And really just having that first test with each other and everybody passed. It's just time to stop making the same mistakes and can't do it again."

Looking back at the tape on Saturday, how do you feel about the overall performance?
"I feel like we have to get in and out the huddle faster because we can't be slow again to the line of scrimmage. We wasted a timeout and we know at some point that could come back and haunt us in a game. We just can't make those simple mistakes. We can't put the ball on the ground, I need to throw it away sometimes, and just understand it's going to look the same out there as practice. We just got to get more reps at it and make sure everyone is at the right place."

What do you feel like has to happen out there in order to get the ground game going a little more?
"I feel like there's no pressure on me, everything we caught was there. It was either I made the read or I didn't. The run is going to be there, we just got to lean on it and we just take what the defense gives us. If they're going to let us throw, we are going to throw and if they let us run, we are going to run the ball. Nobody knew before the game, we didn't know we would throw for 510 yards, we didn't know that. It just happened, somehow someway it happened. So then we really went 'wow' we went for 500, that's crazy."

Can you take us into all the amount of work that you put in with your guys and also along with Coach Lewis? It seemed like he called a great game.
Yeah, it was almost refreshing. It wasn't I missed a couple reads, so that's still haunting me right now. It's just taking what the defense gives us, honestly. And knowing it's a trust factor with the receivers, knowing that you're going to be in the right places where I need them to be because we talk about everything. Coach gets mad because I always talk about one off situations, where you understand they may have just got you on that play. I like being very detailed and having an answer for everything a defense does, over prepared really. I feel like that's what got us to having those numbers in that game. When you get the ball in explosive players hands that's what happens. Anybody can have any amount of receiving yards but we aren't thinking about that, we just go where the read takes us.

You guys now have tape out there that teams can see, you've now got to see what they're going to give you and will you play off of that?
"No, we kind of dictate what they're going to do. We already know most likely what they're going to do, what they're thinking, that's just what it is. We just focus on how we can do this better, how can I not miss this read? If we just execute what coach calls and do the right thing, he gives us the tools to make every play right. So if we are able to do that at a high level, it's going to be hard to stop."

What have you learned about this rivalry with Nebraska since you've been here? And like who's kind of taught you about it? What is the team taken from it? And what are you really looking forward to in this game, specifically on Saturday?
"Don't wear red in the facility. I got to take the red shirt off with my clothes this week. We know the history of it. Colorado, we don't like Nebraska. That's just what it is. We got to focus on that, we don't like Nebraska but that's not going to change preparation or anything like that. We prepare like nobody likes us because we know we are going to get everybody's best game. A little more motivation, but we already got to be motivated."

You said you would have too much time to prepare for TCU, how do you and coach personally microwave that process, having less time this week?
"I will say I understand the scheme. I really like learning and understanding coaches and their schemes. Knowing what coaching trees they came from and stuff like that. It's really just being a student and knowing we aren't going to have as much time as we've had. A lot of more time is focused on watching football, football, football. Different teams that run the same scheme, understanding their players and really knowing them intimately. They got a lot of talented players, just understanding what's on the table and what they got."

What was going through your mind on the 4th and 2 play, and how much does your work with Tom Brady impact those stressful moments?
"I know everybody is wondering what's going to happen here, and I'm in my head like "Dang, it's 4th and 2," but I have been there before, it's not my first time being 4th and 2 in a game on the line situation. I tell myself to execute the play-call that's it, or do something to make it happen. I'm human too though, on the 3rd and 16 play it was to find the best one-on-one matchup and put it there. On 4th and 2, it was there's no way we were losing this game, no matter what's going on. We are going to get it somehow, because we aren't going out like that. It impacts it a lot because 4th and 2 is not a big pressure situation to me, because you should treat every down the same as a high-pressure situation because you don't know when the players can dictate the game, any down can be an interception, fumble, anything like that. To me every play is a series, but working with Tom it was just talking to him and understanding how to improve each week. He texted me after the game, "Don't be satisfied," it's cool. It was nice to hear from him knowing he's still watching. He really helped me understand not to focus on the good things. We are going to do that regardless, focus on the bad things that we weren't able to do at a high level. So it's really highlighting the bad things that we did over and over, feeling like we can't make the same mistake."

When you're in the center of the college universe like you are right now, how do you stay grounded?
"It ain't my first time here, we had it at Jackson, it's just now a bigger stage and bigger level to where it's ESPN and TV all the time. I'm off social media, not too many people have my phone number. I don't see any of that stuff. Honestly, I don't watch TV at home. I will probably put on YouTube and watch full games here and there along with game film. I'm disconnected from that type of stuff because I know what it can lead to. So that's why I always reference my past because I feel like God put me in a position to where I went through all these trials and everything in my prior years and stuff in college and understand different situations. So now it's just normal and I don't have any feelings towards anything."

Can you give us a little sneak peek of what's going through your mind trying to watch the defense seal the game for you guys last weekend?
"Really it's just me talking to the O-line, I'm not watching the defense because I just don't like watching it. I feel like when I watch, so much happens so I just don't watch. So then I just get the guys together and tell them we are going to have another drive. There's no way we are losing this game. It's really an intimate moment with the O-line. That's why I feel like that's the main highlight of the game is really being able to look those guys in the eyes and know they got my back and we are there mentally, knowing no matter what happens, we're going to go there drop down the field and score. So however things played out, mentally we were ready."

Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders

Shedeur Sanders, Jr., QB

Players Mentioned

Travis Hunter

Alton McCaskill

Cormani McClain

Shedeur Sanders

Shilo Sanders

Myles Slusher

Trevor Woods

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