While not one of the nation's best teams, Colorado football continues to be one of the most entertaining. Head coach Deion Sanders is still the most magnetic presence in the sport as his second year with the program approaches.

Sanders dropped an eyebrow-raising quote about the media scrutiny his team faces, via WFAA.

“Let's just say for instance, if we won 10 games and we had 10 guys go to jail, I'd be up there on the cross right there with Jesus,” Sanders said. “You wouldn't give a durn about the 10 wins. You would focus on what's not right in the program. But we're thankful. We're happy. We're not trying to please nobody but everybody in the locker room and our wonderful AD who gave me this opportunity.”

Sanders has been especially testy with the media recently, making headlines for banning The Denver Post's Sean Keeler from press conferences after the reporter supposedly took personal shots at the enigmatic coach.

Acclaimed college football insider Paul Finebaum took Keeler's side, via ESPN.

“Coach Prime is showing he is not ready for primetime, Greeny. I find this whole thing disgraceful… treating reporters like this seems like we're in some autocratic country,” Finebaum claimed. “This is not America… I find him to be a bully and a hypocrite.”

Finebaum has had his own beef with Sanders as well, which may have influenced his opinion. Does Sanders overreact to negative media coverage, or does he have the right to fire back?

Colorado football can't get distracted from the main goal

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium.
© Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
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Sanders responded to Finebaum's claims that the Buffaloes are irrelevant, via Outta Pocket with RGIII.

“He's talking about us,” Sanders said. “How can we be irrelevant, and you talking about me? Every time I turn around, somebody is sending me a quote that you are talking about me. The thing about a fan, you gotta understand. The fan only blows when you're hot, so we must be hot.”

There's no denying that Colorado has been constantly covered since Sanders took over the program after leaving Jackson State. “Coach Prime” led the Buffaloes to three straight wins to start off the 2023 campaign, knocking off TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State. However, they sputtered the rest of the way, finishing 4-8.

“I know what he's doing, and I'm proud of him that he's smart enough to understand that this generation's thought process and the way we communicate in sports is different, and he's a dying breed,” Sanders continued. “So what does he have to do to stay and keep up with this change? ‘I gotta go find the big bad wolf and talk about him, so now I keep my relevancy.' I'm like ‘cool, but I'm not gonna help you. I'm not gonna add to you, I'm not even gonna respond, because that's what you want.'”

While the controversy helps raise the program's profile, it needs to focus on winning games, especially with its new move to the Big 12. Luckily, though, Sanders is at least looking the part, via Sporting News' Bill Bender.

“I'm a guy that likes to look good and likes to feel good,” Sanders told Sporting News on a Zoom call Aug. 14. “I want to stay lean and mean and slim. I'm coaching a bunch of young men who never saw me play but they knew me as this football player. I could at least look the durn part.”

The Buffaloes will get their first chance to assess their progress against North Dakota State on Thursday.