Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, especially when you’re a high-profile figure like Deion Sanders. The man has faced his fair share of lemons, from football fields to the NIL world. But as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And that’s exactly what Coach Prime has done. He’s turned negative publicity into positive momentum. Now that he’s leading Colorado (6-2) to a bowl game, his critic is scrambling to discredit his “approach.”

Fox Sports analyst Jason Whitlock gave a piece of his mind about Deion Sanders’ success in Boulder in Year 2 in a new YouTube episode on October 29. After Colorado’s last win against Cincinnati, they’re bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2020 pandemic shortened season. But Whitlock isn’t impressed. He said, “His approach is not good but it’s working. His approach is not healthy but it’s working. I think that speaks to the corrupt system that has been built in college athletics. And it disappoints me that we’ve built a corrupt system.” 

For Jason Whitlock, it has always been Deion Sanders’ approach to the transfer portal that didn’t sit well with him. From the moment he arrived in Boulder, the Buffs HC purged the roster and added 49 transfers while dismissing 57 players. This season, 40 players signed to Colorado while 41 players left for the transfer portal. This earned him criticism from many people who agree along Whitlock’s lines, “He’s working a system that I don’t respect.” 

According to Whitlock, Deion Sanders’ improvement in Colorado in his second year isn’t because of his coaching ability. Rather, he feels that the 57-year-old is taking advantage of the modern NCAA transfer portal system. Even after the Buffs’ stellar win against Arizona, Whitlock remained adamant saying, “This is a reflection of the transfer portal and being able to just buy up talent. You don’t have to recruit talent, you don’t have to develop talent, you have to buy talent.” Still, what matters is that Colorado is winning and the best part? Deion Sanders was able to fulfill a promise to his favorite superfan. 

Deion Sanders is taking Peggy Coppom bowling

Deion Sanders made a bold promise to the Buffs’ 99-year-old superfan Peggy Coppom earlier in the offseason. He promised her that he would take her to a bowl game. Quite a brave risk considering that Colorado has been in the trench for quite some time. The Buffs fell to the bottom of college football in 2022 going 1-11 prior to Deion Sanders’ arrival which he was able to improve to 4-8 in his first year. Still, a bowl game promise in his second season seemed like a fantasy. 

But hey, Deion Sanders surpassed negativity and criticism as they’re now 4-1 in the Big 12. They just revealed the big news to Peggy who is recovering from COVID. As former Colorado alum Joel Klatt observed, they could even be a Big 12 Championship contender. They have four more Big 12 unranked opponents waiting in their schedule – Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. Considering that the Buffs are now No. 23 in the AP Poll rankings, Klatt’s speculation isn’t an impossible scenario.