Coach Prime loves only having to ‘wear one hat’ in first season not coaching his sons
Mar 17, 2025, 11:44 AM
Spring football is underway for Deion Sanders the Colorado Buffaloes as the third season of the Coach Prime era kicks off. The 2025 roster will look a lot different for the Buffs, as many key pieces from the previous two seasons such as Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders will not be wearing the black and gold.
For Coach Prime, he has been coaching his two sons, Shedeur and Shilo, for the better part of eight years. Starting in 2017, he coached both of them in high school at Trinity Christian in Texas, and then coached them in 2021 and 2022 at Jackson State, and finally in 2023 and 2024 at Colorado.
With both of his sons going to the NFL Draft this year, it will be the first time since the 2021 spring football season at Jackson State that he won’t be coaching them. However, he’s not too sad about not coaching them anymore.
“I love [not coaching Shedeur and Shilo] because I only have to wear one hat,” Sanders said Monday. “You don’t understand how much I appreciate that because when you’re a dad and a coach, you’re wearing two hats. You’re coaching your butt off, but naturally, you’re making sure your kids are alright at the same time.”
Coach Prime has been outspoken about the fact that he’s “adopted” certain players on the team and looked after them as a son, as he did when he walked with Jimmy Horn Jr. onto the field on Senior Day, but he was adamant about the difference when it comes to his biological sons.
“It’s nothing like your two biological kids,” Prime said. “You can’t help but focus on those young men and seeing how they’re doing.”
Many mock drafts have Shedeur Sanders going early in the first round for the 2025 NFL Draft, with some having him selected as high as No. 3 overall to the New York Giants. For Shilo Sanders, he’s seen as a late-round pick that could have upside due to his experience and football pedigree. Prime knows that it will also be different for them not having their father on the sidelines supporting.
“It’s different for me, I’m sure it’s different for them, but I’m loving the process, I truly am,” Sanders said.”
