Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders took to the main stage podium at Big 12 Football Media Days to discuss the outlook for CU’s 2026 season.From offseason battles to personal growth, Sanders opened up about an array of topics to kick off football season. Here’s a look at everything Coach Prime said in his 2026 Big 12 Football Media Days press conference.Everything Deion Sanders Said at Big 12 Media DaysOpening Statement:Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“First and foremost, you know we [the Big 12] have the best commissioner. Where you at, my man? We got the best commissioner in the world, and he's definitely the best-dressed commissioner ever. I love him to life, and he always raises the bar, and he's infectious. Every time I see him, I have to hug him and appreciate who he is and what he does." "And our [athletic director], Fernando [Lovo], is around here somewhere as well. He's been doing a heck of a job. He's just taking the reins, taking the baton from a dear friend of mine, Rick George, and you talk about a sprinter. He has sprinted and has been more than expected. And Fernando, you're doing a heck of a job. I love you to life, and keep up the great work.”“We've lost the young man, Dominiq Ponder. We miss him dearly. Prayers go out to his family, who we're in contact with on a daily basis. We will wear a patch on our jerseys this season in his honor and his legacy. [His legacy] should encourage kids to make responsible choices and have those hard and tough conversations.”“Adam Munsterteiger, his beautiful, wonderful wife is here. Please, please, can we give her love and support and respect? Love her, [Adam] passed away on May 19. And I want to thank the Big 12 for reserving his seat for him today. We will hold his seat both in press conferences and in the press box in honor of him this season. His wonderful wife, Liz, I love you so much. And thank you. Your strength encourages all, and whatever you need from us, the Buffs this year, you got it. He's covered CU for over 20 years, for the Buff Stampede.” Apr 27, 2024; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during a spring game event at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect“CU coaching staff, 250 years of coaching experience, 172 years of college, 106 years at the Power Four level, five coaches who served as a head coach at some level…51 years of high school experience. This is all to say we're pretty good. We're pretty darn good.” “Okay, roster breakdown: 104 [total players], 83 scholarships, 21 walk-ons. I love my walk-ons. How many of you cried at the movie Rudy? I did. I'm sorry, I did. When Rudy got in, it was over for me. That was it. So I love my walk-ons dearly. I think two or three [players] on the roster who were walk-ons; they're on scholarship right now. We hope to continue that as well.” “We had a 3.0 GPA this spring, the highest GPA in CU history. Right now we have 3.035, which is wonderful.”“We have over double digits in young men on our roster who were captains on their respective teams, and they're with us now. So we have a tremendous amount of leadership.”On Colorado Buffaloes Snubbed From Preseason All-Big 12 Team:Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“We don't care about what people say. People are always going to have an opinion. If my kids and my coaches and our staff don't understand who they are, we have a problem. They're not going to allow you to identify who we are, and just because our guys were snubbed off a poll that's probably not going to be consistent with the end of the season, we don't give a darn. Our kids know who, what, when, where, and how they are, and they know what they've got to do and how they've got to work. It just gives them that extra inside of them, and I'm thankful and appreciative of that.”Absence From College Football Video Game for Third Straight Year:Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“I don't know about the video games. I have a wonderful team that handles a lot of business for me. If I'm not in the game, that means they weren't paying enough. It didn't fit where we're going right now. That's probably it. It was probably that simplistic.” How Coaching at Colorado has Impacted Deion Sanders as a Person:Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect"I don't think Colorado has transformed me. Colorado has given me a tremendous opportunity that I'm so darn appreciative of, and I want to live up and surpass the expectations. My younger self would be proud that I was here last year fighting a battle called cancer, and now I'm here with full strength, full energy. I got that thing back, I got that swagger back, I got that dog back, I got that charisma back." "See, last year I had on shorts up on under the suit, I had on a sweat suit on under the suit, because I was probably 15 pounds down, looking like Eddie Kane up here, and those of you that see the Five Heartbeats, but now I'm ready, I'm back, I'm trying, I'm close to 204 [pounds], I'm back, baby, like, like I cannot wait. I cannot wait to get back on that sideline and do our thing. I can't wait to get back to camp. I can't wait to get back in. I ain't even seen the kids yet that are here. I can't wait to even see them, because I know they're looking good in our uniforms, but I'm excited about this season and the expectations thereof.”Deion Sanders on Tough Big 12 Schedule:Jul 9, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks with the media during 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“Well, let's digress a bit and think about Georgia Tech. Let's think about going to Atlanta and handling our business on Thursday nights in front of the whole world, and that being our stage. We're going to take one game at a time, and I'm not thinking about those two games as further down the road. We're thinking about that first one." "First of all, we think about going to camp and having a wonderful camp and getting it on and [pressurizing] our coordinators and our team in certain situations because with coach Brendan Marion and Coach [Chris] Marve, this is the best coaching staff that I've had in my new coaching career, and I'm excited about it. I'm excited about the young men. I'm excited about everything that we have on this roster, because I feel like we have the team to win, and I cannot wait to see it.”Approaching Leadership After the Buffaloes Struggled With It In 2025:“I'm thankful that God didn't allow my neck to go all the way back and look back, because that would be in tremendous pain right now, and I'm thankful that I look ahead and I'm right on point. But the young men, they're close, they're close. Some of them weren't even here last year, so I don't think the collective would have that opinion." "Maybe a couple of them that were here they're pretty accurate, but I'm loving everything I've seen in the spring. I'm loving everything that we've added. I'm loving what we did in the portal. I'm loving what we're doing recruiting-wise right now. We're right where we want to be, and we're going to even get better.”What the New World of College Football Has Taught Deion Sanders:Oct 7, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders yells out from the sidelines as his team takes on the ASU Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect“As a coach, patience. It has taught me tremendous patience. It’s taught me that a lot of young men want to benefit from the game financially. A lot of young men want to benefit from the game because they love the game, and you've got to really understand there are two sides of this coin, and make sure you're flipping these kids on the right side, because it's a whole different game, and sometimes you can't get stuck in the old ways." "You gotta go forward and welcome and invite some of the new school ways and adapt to them. Thank God, I got kids. I got five of them to keep me on my toes, keep me on my game, and keep me hip to what's coming and what's going on right now. So I'm thankful for that. And I got a little grandson; he can't really talk right now, but he can ask. So I'm thankful that they're keeping me on point.”Being Unapologetic About His Faith:“You're rock steady, because you guys [the media] flip and flip, and you blow with the wind, and you ride the waves that you're supposed to ride, and I understand that. You’ve got to understand that I've been up here and I've been out there, so I know what you're thinking, but you don't know what I'm thinking." "So I understand life, and I understand the trials and tribulations of life, but I have a God who's been so darn good to me. I can't help but acknowledge Him and praise Him every opportunity I get, and I don't allow anyone out there to tell me who I am or what I am. I have a God that has shown me all of that, and that's why I embrace it, and that's why I'm never going to stop praising him and talking about him tremendously.” Something Deion Sanders believes Will Surprise People About the Buffaloes in 2026:Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos head coach Deion Sanders against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect“We better win. That's gonna be the surprise. That's the surprise. We'd better win. We're gonna win.”Deion Sanders’s Thoughts on His Leadership Retreat:“We had a good time: the young men, the coaches, the staff. We had a great time. We really did, and we got closer, we bonded, and I loved every last minute of it. I could not wait till they left, but I loved every last minute, you know. You know, I'm old school. You got three days in my house, you got to go. Jesus got up on the third day; you could get up too. Okay, so you've got to go.”Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow