Deion Sanders fed up with Colorado’s ‘mediocrity’

Deion Sanders was a perfectionist as a Hall of Fame player, and he’s showing that same trait as a college coach at Colorado.

Sanders was not happy after the Buffaloes pulled out a 27-24 road win Saturday over Arizona State to improve to 4-2, lamenting his team’s slow start and his defense allowing the Sun Devils to complete a 94-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes to tie the score.
“I apologize for my anger today, but I don’t expect mediocrity,” Sanders said after the game. “Played like hot garbage. I’m trying to figure this out. Sick of it. I really am. I’m sick of us coming out here and putting forth the effort we put forth in the first half.

“I’m sorry with my impatience. I don’t have patience for too much in life. You ask my kids.”

Sanders’ son, Shedeur Sanders, is Colorado’s starting quarterback.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders talks to his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, during a game against Arizona State on Oct. 7, 2023.Getty Images
The junior threw for 239 yards in the win, with one passing touchdown and one rushing score.

“I expect to win, and I expect to win in a better fashion than that,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m sick of these consistent holes that we’re displaying and the penalties and things that we’re doing. We’re so much better.”

The Buffaloes are two wins away from being bowl-eligible in Sanders’ first season as head coach, one year after the program had finished the 2022 season with a 1-11 record.
Deion Sanders argues with an official during Colorado’s game against Arizona State on Oct. 7, 2023.AP
Saturday’s win came after successive losses to ranked opponents, Oregon and USC.
Colorado has six Pac-12 regular season games remaining, beginning Friday night at home against Stanford.
TEMPE, Ariz. – Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders flashed a bit of his temper here Saturday in the postgame news conference at Arizona State.

His team survived the game, beating the Sun Devils 27-24. But this was not how he wants to win. Not with another slow start, more poor blocking and a 94-yard touchdown drive from Arizona State to tie the game in the final minute.
“I apologize for my anger today, but I don’t expect mediocrity,” Sanders said afterward.

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Sanders said he’s “sick of it.” And he never raised his voice, but he had several things to get off of his chest afterward. He even seemed much more unhappy after this win than he was after a loss the previous week, when his team rallied from a 27-point deficit against Southern California before falling short, 48-41. He blamed himself, too, when asked what he said to his team afterward.

“I’ve delivered every type of message you can fathom,” he said. “It’s not just the team. This is all of us. This is me and the coaches included.”
Starting slow has been a sore spot for Sanders, who preached about it in the week before the game. After Arizona State (1-5) went up 7-0 on the first drive of the game, Shedeur Sanders was sacked on his first snap, then again on his third. Colorado punted the ball away on four of its first five possessions and entered halftime down 17-14.

“Played like hot garbage,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m trying to figure this out. Sick of it. I really am. I’m sick of us coming out here and putting forth the effort we put forth in the first half.”

His team responded on its second drive of the game by going 75 yards in 16 plays to tie it at 7-7. Yet when a reporter asked him about that second drive afterward, Deion Sanders didn’t want to let go of what preceded it.

“What about the first drive?” Deion Sanders asked. “What about the first two plays? How do you start out a game like that, with a quarterback like this?”

It’s all about expectations. His are high after a career as a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former two-sport star.

“I’m sorry with my impatience,” he said. “I don’t have patience for too much in life. You ask my kids.”