The moderator told Deion Sanders he had reached the final question during his news conference at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday, and Coach Prime couldn’t believe it.
“Is there a shot clock?” the Colorado coach wondered aloud before the final question could even be asked.
No, there wasn’t. But there were a couple shots taken at the reporters who have been critical of his recruiting, and how he runs a program. There was mention of Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark being a “baller” and “a shot caller.” There was, of course, the mixture of charisma and bravado that turned Sanders into perhaps the biggest personality in college football last fall.
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Here’s a sampling of Sanders’ best quotes in front of assembled Big 12 reporters for the first time:
Deion Sanders on recruiting criticism
“To you all that say we only go in the portal — we signed 17 high school players last year and 13 played. When we signed a kid out of high school, the expectancy is for him to play. All you kids in high school right now, when we sign you, we want you to play. 17 kids, 13 played.”
On how he’s judged at Colorado
“I’m judged on a different scale. My wins are totally different than your wins. Your wins, you just judge football, that’s why I start out give you education and academics and so forth, I have to give you those things so you understand there’s a greater scope.
“I can’t win nine games and our GPA suffers. Our GPA can’t be high and we lose another eight games. We can’t not go and grab high school players, and you’ve got a bunch of guys in the portal, out of the portal getting incarcerated. My wins are different. We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged. I’m cool with that because we come at it a little different.”
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On playing FCS power North Dakota State to open 2024 season
“They’re good. They’re really darned good. And I’m mad at (Colorado AD) Rick (Scott) right now for putting them on the schedule, to open up with them. Like can you give me a layup or something?”
How being a parent has given Sanders perspective
“It’s been a tremendous asset for me to understand those facets of this new recruiting age that is impacted tremendously by NILs and collectives. So I love it. Sometimes I don’t like it, but I love it and I love that these kids are being compensated somewhat for what they bring to the table. I don’t want them to put the bag before the game because if you have the game, the bag is going to come. I want them to understand that. I just don’t want to take away from the purity of this wonderful game that we have. College football is phenomenal, man. This conference is phenomenal.
“Look at where we are. You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m a brother from Fort Myers, Florida, and I’m sitting in the darned end zone in Las Vegas talking to the whole darned country about a childish game that I played. Don’t you understand how powerful and wonderful it is? I’m so darned thankful to be here. So I try to relay to the young men: ‘This is the moment, and you better maximize it, and let’s go get it.'”
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On how Sanders and his players deal with the spotlight
“I think ever since I stepped into Florida State in ’85 it’s been like that for me. This ain’t new to me. I’m not new to this. Like we say in the hood, I’m true to this. So this is new to some of you all and you want us to change. We’re not going to change. We’re going to try to do things being smart, tough, fast, disciplined, with character. That’s what we’re relaying to all our young men. But the cameras and the lights, I think I haven’t seen one kid here today that said he didn’t like that.
“He may not like the process, but he likes the package that you wrap him up in and you put him out there. All these kids are excited about the EA Sports game, their scores and levels. They want attention. They want affection. They want love and adoration — adulation, I’m sorry. Yes, we give you that. But you have to work first so you can understand the consistency thereof is going to take you to where you want to go and retire mom and dad if that’s what you please.”
On Las Vegas (host of Big 12 Media Days)
“I don’t gamble … so you ain’t getting that out of me.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: The best Deion Sanders quotes from 2024 Big 12 Media Days
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