Colorado’s head coach Deion Sanders often faces heat from critics due to his claim of being a father figure to his student athletes. But behind his caring nature to his own sons as well as the Buffs, he has a hidden pain. His years-long friend and Hall of Fame WR Michael Irvin has revealed that painful secret ahead of Colorado’s 2026 season.
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“Deion’s dad was not there, you know; his dad got caught up in drinking and smoking and all. That’s why he’s never touched any of it,” said Irvin during his August 9 appearance on RING CHAMPS with Ak & Barak. “A man like that can make himself that committed because he saw the pain of what it caused and said, ‘I’m never going to be that.’ And then never touch the stuff.”
“You know what I mean? And then turn around and say, ‘The pain I felt not having a father, I’m going to make sure a lot of these kids don’t feel cuz I’mma stand in the gap and be a father,'” added Coach Prime’s close friend.
Irvin knew Deion from college days, and then in the NFL when they both played for the Dallas Cowboys, their friendship grew. Since then, they both backed each other when hardship came. But this time, Irvin’s revelation of Deion’s painful past is not only to silence critics who said the Colorado head coach didn’t pay his players but also to make them understand his care for his players like his own children have a painful reason.
Deion lost his father, Mims Sanders, when he was 26 years old. Having a complicated childhood, witnessing the divorce of his parents at 2 years old, and his father’s drug addiction, the current Colorado head coach set his journey of caring long ago to arrive at the coaching era.
“He [Deion Sanders] would have kids at his house. He has taken them out of these little areas that are having problems, moved them in, got them in school, and get them going to college. He was doing that when he was playing,” said former NFL legend Irvin.
Irvin experienced that firsthand going to Deion’s house. But the Colorado head coach’s promise to be a father to those in need is still intact in Boulder. Last season, when Colorado WR Jimmy Horn Jr.’s father was in prison, Deion Sanders not only supported Horn Jr. mentally, but he also visited his father to check his health and keep a father-son relationship balanced. In fact, on Colorado’s Senior Day in 2025, he stood alongside the standout WR as a father figure.
Yet, Deion’s caring nature towards the Buffs often became a talking point to doubters due to his advice for players to “jump in the portal” after taking the reins of Colorado. Though the coach said he made it out of “honesty,” critics weren’t ready to buy.
Deion Sanders isn’t one who bothers with outside noise, but he knows to be true to friends. “I know what he is. I’ve been with him for a long, long time, and he’s always been what he is,” claimed Irvin.