Colorado coach Deion Sanders expects the Alamo Bowl to be emotional

SAN ANTONIO – This is the moment Deion Sanders didn’t want to think too much about – the last game he coached his sons Shedeur and Shilo.

It’s also the final episode of one of the best dramas in college football – the Sanders show in Colorado with Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

This is where it all comes to an end Saturday night in the Alamo Bowl against BYU.

“It’s going to be special,” said Deion Sanders, Colorado’s second-year head coach. “I don’t know how to deal with this. I know Travis will trigger me. I know because he always knows, and he will bring tears to my eyes. But I’m not looking forward to it. But I do it because it means they reach another level, another chapter of their lives. And they will skyrocket.”

Sanders said this Friday after a week of Bowl celebrations, including a roller coaster ride at SeaWorld and a pep rally on the Riverwalk. The idea was to have a little fun after a 9-3 season and first place finish in the Big 12 Conference. But there’s also some seriousness in this game for guys like Shedeur Sanders and Hunter, Colorado’s two-way star. That’s why they play along and don’t give up, so as not to risk an injury that could affect their earning potential in the NFL next year.

Shedeur Sanders, Colorado’s quarterback, even complained to his father this week about all the non-football activities planned.

“Dad, can we stop dealing with all this stuff so I can concentrate and concentrate?” Shedeur asked him, according to Deion.

“That’s where he’s at mentally right now,” Deion Sanders said.

“The People’s Big 12 Championship”?

Sanders called the game a “blessing.” It might even be the most attractive non-playoff bowl game of the season.

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff even called it the “People’s Big 12 Championship,” a sort of secondary Big 12 title game after BYU and Colorado ended in a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 to close out the regular season. Due to the league’s tiebreaker rules, the other two first-place teams played in the actual Big 12 championship game earlier this month, with Arizona State defeating Iowa State and advancing to the College Football Playoff.

Ironically, Arizona State was picked 16th^Th of 16 Big 12 teams in a preseason media poll. Colorado was picked to finish 11th^Thwith BYU 13^Th.

“We’re taking it seriously because some of you wonderful people have predicted that we won’t be here,” Sanders said at a news conference at the Alamodome on Friday.

“We wouldn’t have had a Heisman Trophy winner.”

Sanders coached his sons as a soccer coach from their youth, through high school and then at Jackson State University before they all came to Colorado. In addition to being a farewell ballad for the family, the game marks the realization of Sanders’ vision for Colorado, which went 1-11 before his arrival in December 2022.

If he hadn’t taken the job at Colorado in December 2022, would Hunter have won the Heisman Trophy under him at Jackson State, which plays at a lower subdivision level? Would Shedeur Sanders have been considered a top-10 NFL draft pick like he is now?

Sanders thanked Colorado athletic director Rick George for his hiring.

“I’m grateful that Rick gave me the opportunity because otherwise we wouldn’t have had a Heisman Trophy winner,” said Deion Sanders. “We wouldn’t have had a guy who was (probably) the first or second pick in the entire draft… This wouldn’t have happened here if I hadn’t accepted that call.”

Deion Sanders loses “dress-up” match to BYU coach

The game also represents a lovefest between Deion Sanders and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. Both expressed their admiration for each other on Friday after getting to know each other over the past few years. Sanders attended the news conference in a stylish white jumpsuit and sunglasses and sat on stage with Sitake, who wore white Nike sneakers, a blue blazer and a black shirt.

Sanders noticed.

“His shoe game is still on point today,” Sanders said of Sitake. “You know he’s clean. He has the jacket. I had no idea, but it’s not like I’ve changed anyway. But he looks really good. And he won the dress-up game today. He caught me and I’m not happy about it.”

“I have an outfit, man,” Sitake replied. “If we changed wardrobes now, I’m pretty sure I’d get a lot more out of it than you. I would never be able to do that.”

Sitake, 49, then said he “grew up watching Sanders, 57, play in the NFL.”

“I’m not that old, man,” Sanders said.

Sitake even said he recently met Colorado superfan Peggy Coppom, who turned 100 last month. “That was really special,” Sitake said.

Coppom is attending the game after Sanders promised before the season to invite her to a bowl game, Colorado’s third since 2016. She sat next to him at a team lunch at a Riverwalk hotel on Friday.

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