Last year this time, Deion Sanders went desperate to woo his favorite, Julian “JuJu” Lewis. Lewis committed to Colorado in November, hardly knowing what awaited him in Boulder. In December, Deion added Liberty Flames transfer Kaidon Salter from the portal. But Deion’s second option failed to leave a mark in Coach Prime’s heart. The head coach was not thrilled at the fact that Salter wasn’t playing like the same fearless dual-threat QB who ran wild during Liberty’s 13-1 run last year. The next move? Deion benched the quarterback. Salter didn’t start against Houston in the Buffs’ Week 3 loss. Days later, Deion broke the silence on the quarterback. 

In Week 2 against Delaware, Salter got the start, but he didn’t keep the job to himself. Deion turned to a revolving door at quarterback, giving Lewis and Ryan Staub their shot as well. And guess what? The head coach’s move paid off.

In an interview with Romi Bean on September 24, Deion rectified the narrative that has been going around. “I don’t even want to use the word ‘bench.’ Detained him… Because we just wanted him to see what we see… And to understand how we do things here. And he got it,” clarified the Buffs head coach.

So, Salter worked his way and gained Deion’s confidence. Salter lit it up against Wyoming with three touchdown passes and a rushing score. However, the quarterback’s biggest moment might’ve come off the scoreboard. After Micah Welch’s fumble in the red zone, Salter stepped up as a leader, offering support instead of frustration.

“He met with the whole offensive staff and we got everything out… and he understood the process and he’s accepted the process…I was happy. That’s what he’s capable of doing. That’s how he’s capable of playing,” so Deion planned to push Salter to become a better version of himself. And the plan did pay off. Just a week after being left behind by the third-stringer Staub, Salter came back with a vengeance.

Back in the starting role against Wyoming, Salter led Colorado to a 37-20 win and put on a clinic in the process. He finally looked at home in Colorado’s offense, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns with no picks, while adding 86 yards and a rushing score on the ground. And that’s how Deion’s strategy paid off. 

As the head coach noted, “Even better than that. Now there’s confidence. There’s a feeling that he has inside that he can do this. And when you get confidence mixed in with the offense that we feature in the players that we feature, you’re going to have success.” Now the question remains: has Deion been nitpicking only about Salter?

Confidence rekindled in Deion Sanders’ Colorado after Wyoming win

Tough love is at the top of Deion’s playbook. He never sugarcoats his words when interacting with his boys. And the Buffs players, too, know that when they get a call to huddle up in the conference room, their plays will be critiqued by Deion, playing on a big screen. But for a change, the Buffs head coach ditched the conference room for a podcast. 

On the New Heights podcast, he made himself very clear about the expectations for Salter and his mates. Deion refrained from taking any particular name. Instead, he said, “You know what, man? The whole thing is accountability. That’s my word of the week. Everybody’s accountable, baby. Everybody’s accountable. We got to step it up. We got to go to the next level. And you can’t want the good, pretty, shiny stuff if you’re not ready to do the good, pretty, shiny things.”

But it looks like Deion’s boys have finally found their momentum. As Omarion Miller admitted, “That (Wyoming) game gave me confidence and swagger back.” The wide receiver confessed he was in a bad mental space, but he’s back to himself. Now that the BYU game is knocking on the door, Deion whipped up a plan to boost his boys’ spirits a notch higher. Already, Coach Prime caught side eyes for inviting Ice Cube to the practice a few days back. 

Before their weekend clash, Deion Sanders brought Pastor Cartwright into the locker room to take a class on responsibility and shared purpose. On the Well Off Media podcast, the pastor said, “We’re going to talk about something tonight, and it’s really important to me. The word that kept ringing in my mind…is one word. It won’t sound like anything big to you, but by the time this thing is over, you’ll understand what I mean. It’s together. Everybody say together.” Very similar to Deion stressing the word “accountability.” Now the question is: will the Buffs back up their talk, or will those words just gather dust in the dictionary?