Camaraderie and Accountability: Behind-the-Scenes at CU Big 12 Football Media Day

Head coach Deion Sanders during his podium time at Big 12 Media Days. (Photo by Zachary Woodbury/Sko Buffs Sports)

FRISCO, Texas—This time last year, Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders showed up at Big 12 Media Day with something hidden under his suit. 

A hoodie, pulled tight underneath with shorts worn under his slacks. He had lost a significant amount of weight in his battle with bladder cancer and didn’t want the room to notice. 

On Tuesday, in a private ballroom away from the main stage, Coach Prime said, "It's a different day. "Ain't no shorts up on here." 

He caught himself, half-joked about his own underwear line, then got serious again.

"I'm back. I'm healthy. I got my thought process, my me, back,” Sanders said.

This year, the spotlight wasn't on Colorado. Instead, all eyes were on the Big 12 Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark, who had a tense back-and-forth with a journalist over quarterback Brendan Sorsby's gambling case. Reporters spent the energy that usually goes into scrutinizing Colorado on something else. 

Right now, that might be the best situation for this new-look roster. 

Coach Prime spent part of his media session explaining why he believes his staff built a confident program from the one that stumbled last fall. 

"I keep saying this is the best staff I've ever had in my life," Sanders said. "And they are. And that's not to demean any of the previous coaches, because they were good also. But these guys, they're special, and they've got a gift of communication with these young men.”

That change of process extended to recruiting, which Sanders described as a conscious overhaul rather than a natural progression. 

"We changed the way we targeted the kids," he said. “We chased leadership types of kids that love the game and can recover after a bad play, a bad series, a bad quarter.”

Kids, in his words, "who's gonna stay in the boat" instead of bolting into the transfer portal at the first sign of adversity.

"Football is football to me," Sanders said when asked about a transfer class full of players who spent last season outside the power conferences. 

"I don't care who you're playing against. Danny Scudero, I know receivers, dog. He's that. We got defensive ends that are that, regardless of who they face. They can get down, and I'm happy that they chose us. Really am."

Scudero, who led the nation in receiving yards last season, is one of six players who represented the Buffaloes in Texas. He carried himself with great energy, which was most evident when he talked about his transition to the Power-Four level.

“This is what you sign up for. I mean, this is exciting,” Scudero told Sko Buffs Sports. “I'm really excited for this opportunity and for going out every week to battle against really good competition, so that's what I'm most excited for.” Scudero continued by tracing this opportunity back to his faith. 

“My faith is really grounded. It makes you really appreciate the opportunities that have been blessed in your life because, I mean, look where we're at,” Scudero said. “We're at a Dallas Cowboys facility. Like, it's just really cool to look at the blessings you're able to get. Praise God, and He'll take care of the rest.” 

That same grounded quality also shows up just a few lockers down. Defensive back Cree Thomas is another newcomer who has already claimed a leadership role in a secondary unit that struggled last year.

"Coach Fletch told me as soon as I started making plays in spring, leadership doesn't have an age. I'm gonna do what I can to command that room and really bring guys along, so we can be the best we can be. We have so much talent in that room."

For Colorado fans who don’t know much about the Notre Dame transfer, he described his playstyle as "an ultra-confident corner who's ready to go make a play.” 

"I feel like there are corners who just let the game come to them. That's not me. I want to make a play. I want to be a difference maker." 

Most of that comes from studying Jalen Ramsey, whose number he's worn his whole life. 

"Just how smart a player he is," Thomas said. "I really learned a lot from him at Coach Prime's retreat, with film study, just his habits. I'm gonna try to add that to my game."

As for the moment he's most looking forward to, "the guys and I have a fishing touchdown celebration. That's gonna pop off in our first pick-six. So stay tuned for that."

That same looseness showed up off-camera, too. Between interviews, the camaraderie among this group was hard to miss. Thomas and Scudero traded jokes about whose fishing ability was better. Players waited for their turn, poking fun at each other over answers they'd just given at the next microphone over.

None of it erases the 3-9 record from 2025. But there's a difference between a program performing confidently for the cameras and one that's doing productive work behind the scenes. 

Maybe that's the real story to come out of Frisco this week. Coach Prime was full of energy and looked like himself again, now running a program with players who show up for each other in the same way. 

Nobody was watching enough to notice. For once, that was exactly the point.