Deion Sanders was in his usual form when he met with reporters at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday, exuding his typical charisma while at the podium. However, the Colorado coach didn’t provide updates on his health.
Sanders said he wanted to keep the focus on his football team when he was asked about the challenges he’s faced as he’s been away from the program for the last couple of months due to an unknown health issue.
“Average day, I’m looking good. I’m living lovely,” Sanders told reporters. “God has truly blessed me. Not a care in the world. Not a want or desire in the world.”
While he was coy about his health status, Sanders thanked Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and the rest of the conference’s coaches for checking up on him during his recent struggles.
“I love them, they’ve been calling and checking on me, making sure I’m straight,” Sanders said.
Sanders, who’ll turn 58 in early August, missed Colorado’s annual summer camps in June due to the undisclosed health issue and has been spending time at his home in Texas. Big 12 Media Days were held in Frisco, which is roughly 90 minutes away from Sanders’ residence in Canton, Texas.
The only information Sanders has shared about the illness came when he appeared on former NFL player Asante Samuel’s podcast in late May. As Samuel wished Sanders well, the Colorado coach said what he was “dealing with right now is at a whole ‘nother level” and that he had lost 14 pounds. Still, Sanders said he planned to return to coaching whenever the illness subsided.
Sanders certainly spoke like someone who would be back on the sideline for the upcoming season on Wednesday, fielding numerous questions over his near-20-minute-long press conference. In terms on-field matters, the biggest question surrounding Colorado is its quarterback situation. Colorado brought both Kaidon Salter and Julian “JuJu” Lewis to Big 12 Media Days this week, with Sanders saying he hasn’t decided which one of the two will replace his son yet.
“We brought both of them because we don’t know which one is going to start,” Sanders said.
In a follow-up, Sanders said there would be situations where he would feel comfortable playing both quarterbacks.
“As long as they’re doing their jobs and winning,” Sanders said. “We definitely want to continue to develop JuJu. But Kaidon is unbelievable. Kaidon is off the chain. He’s been there, done that and he can get the job done. I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t trust him. But JuJu is coming around the mountain when he comes. I love him. I love what he brings to the table.
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out, as long as it plays out. We can’t lose either way, with either of those two.”
Salter was one of the top quarterbacks to transfer this past offseason. The former Liberty quarterback is 20-4 all-time as a starter, winning Conference USA’s Most Valuable Player in 2023 as he helped the Flames go 13-0 before losing in the Fiesta Bowl. He threw for 1,886 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions to go with 587 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 11 games last season.
Kaidon Salter is battling Julian “JuJu” Lewis for the starting quarterback job at Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images for ONIT)
Lewis, meanwhile, was widely viewed as one of the best quarterback prospects in the 2025 recruiting class. The incoming freshman was ranked as the 10th-best quarterback in the class by 247 Sports.
Sanders also weighed in on larger matters throughout the college football landscape on Wednesday. When he was asked about his relationship with Texas Tech head Joey McGuire, Sanders ribbed his counterpart for the recent spending the program has done to land top transfers and recruits.
“Joey got some money! Joey, where you at, baby? Spending that money! I love it,” Sanders said with a wide grin. “Once upon a time, you guys was talking junk about me going in that portal. Now, when everyone go in the portal, it’s OK. It’s cool when they do it. It’s a problem when I do it.”
Sanders later said “I love me some Joey McGuire,” praising him for how he handled Texas Tech fans when they threw tortillas during Colorado’s game against the Red Raiders in Lubbock last season.
Still, Texas Tech has formed a squad that will likely threaten to try and take Colorado down from one of the top spots in the Big 12 in 2025 and beyond. The Red Raiders landed the No. 2 class in the transfer portal this offseason, via 247 Sports, reportedly spending more than $10 million to do so. Texas Tech also agreed to a lucrative revenue-sharing deal with 2026 five-star recruit Felix Ojo earlier in July.
Deion Sanders joked about Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire (left) at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Texas Tech’s deal with Ojo was made possible after the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement in June, which allowed schools and student-athletes to agree to revenue-sharing deals starting on July 1. The approval of the lawsuit brought further questions about the future of college sports as schools will be allowed to spend roughly $20.5 million in revenue-sharing deals with student athletes for the 2025-26 academic year.
In his first comments since the approval of the lawsuit, Sanders iterated that he’d like to see a salary cap be implemented in college football moving forward.
“That’s what the NFL does,” Sanders said. “The problem is, you’ve got a guy that’s not that darn school and you could give him a half-million dollars and you can’t compete with that. That don’t make sense.
“All you have to do is look at the playoffs and see what those teams spent, and you understand darn near well why they’re in the playoffs. It’s kind of hard to compete with somebody that’s giving $25, $30 million to a freshman class. It’s crazy. We’re not complaining. … But what’s going on right now don’t make sense.”
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