Coach Prime wants to reimagine the spring game yet again
Mar 17, 2025, 5:03 PM
When the Colorado Buffaloes play their Spring Game next month Coach Prime wants it to be an exhibition against another school.
Deion Sanders, who has already innovated CU’s annual Black and Gold Spring Game in both of his years in Boulder, plans to take it up a notch this season with other programs already wanting in. In Year 1, Sanders brought back the best-on-best scrimmage to campus with the game live on ESPN by their top group of broadcasters. Prime was live on the mic for most of that game as a memorable moment occurred right away when now 100-year-old CU superfan Peggy Coppom kicked off the new era of Buffs football by booting a ball at midfield. In 2024 the next step was making the whole weekend event, which included a Lil Wayne concert on campus as well as a talent show where Shedeur Sanders performed his music.
But the main draw is football and if Prime’s plan works, CU’s preseason could look a lot more like what occurs in the NFL.
“I would like to play against another team in the spring that’s what I’m trying to do right now, to have it competitive playing against your own guys kind of gets monotonous and you really can’t tell the level of your guys because you know it’s the same old same everybody kind of know each other towards the end,” Sanders said Monday. “I would like to style it like the pros. I would like to practice against someone for a few days then you have the spring game and I think the public will be satisfied with that tremendously I think it’s a tremendous idea.”
Most NFL teams now do multi-day joint practices against other clubs before the two match up in a preseason game. The joint practices can be just as telling, if not more so, than the game itself.
This idea does seem more fun than a normal exhibition but it’s unknown if it’s even allowed by NCAA rules. Still, coaches around the country seem to either be down or thinking similarly to Sanders in shaking up the tradition. Syracuse coach Fran Brown said on social media he would take his team to Boulder for a three-day trip. While Nebraska recently announced it is replacing its game with skills competitions and a 7-on-7 game. Texas, Ohio State and USC are among other programs that have ended spring games this year.
