Farewells hurt, but Rick George’s departure is a whole different level of ouch for the Colorado Buffaloes fans. After all, he has been the boss since 2013. And he is the guy who brought Deion Sanders to Boulder. So naturally, fans are nervous about Deion’s long-term future. However, George made sure to clear the air on his way out.

On November 17, BuffZone’s Brian Howell managed to get hold of George for an interview. On being asked about the worry surrounding Deion, the AD came up with a stamp of approval. “Coach Prime’s committed here. I think everybody looks for a reason to think that he’s going to leave and coach, and I have a really good relationship. We talked about this Wednesday night,” said George. 

Deion must be indebted to the AD for counting on him. George rolled the dice on Coach Prime back in December 2022, and it paid off big. For the Buffs head coach, this isn’t just a shake-up in the front office. It’s watching his strongest supporter walk out the door. But what if his day-one believer assured Deion to stay around? “I talked about it and, my commitment to him was, you know, I want to help him get this thing back on track, and it’s not like it’s off track,” said George. 

He’s stepping out of the AD spotlight, but not off campus. George will now serve as AD Emeritus and a special adviser to the chancellor. A big respite for Deion. During George’s run, Colorado leveled up. From a brand-new athletics building at Folsom Field to snagging the 2023-24 AD of the Year crown. He also masterminded Deion’s program’s return to the Big 12, a power move that helped push the Pac-12 into a tailspin after USC and UCLA bolted. 

And let’s not forget his monster win in 2014: a record-breaking $100 million haul for the UCHealth Champions Center. According to OnSI’s James Carnes, the plan is for George to mentor Jeremy Bloom, if the Olympian-turned-Buffs legend and X Games CEO accepts the offer. This might be the best motivation for Deion to push harder as the Buffaloes have hit a wall, standing at 3-7. His plate right now is full of woes. 

Deion is buried at 131st out of 136 FBS coaches. Colorado headed into West Virginia with bowl hopes hanging by a thread, and the thread snapped in a 29-22 defeat. However, even then, George is not turning his back on the Buffaloes. Instead, he is looking forward to desperate ways to fix the program. 

Rick George’s parting promise to Deion Sanders

The Colorado AD shared how he wants to take things slow. However, he would always be available for Deion. “Really looking forward to supporting Coach Prime and what’s ahead for him and that program and go out and try to generate some revenue for the department because we desperately need that,” said George. 

Deion’s hiring lit up the balance sheet: $146.6 million in revenue and a whopping $31.2 million in ticket sales, nearly twice the old standard. But underneath the headline is $31.9 million in school funding, keeping the engine running. Without it, CU would celebrate a revenue record, but still fall short of covering the cost surge. Now that Deion will not be walking the path alone, he focuses on alerting his squad.

Coach Prime’s locker room speech has now gone viral. “You gotta want this, you have to, you will… digging up things from my yesterday, which really makes me think so, when I’m sitting down doing a documentary and they asking me all these questions about my life way back when it stirs up a whole bunch of emotions, whole bunch of feelings,” Deion was found saying in the clip.

Deion Sanders’ personal life has been a roller coaster, but it’s forged his grit. Now he’s tapping into that same fire as Colorado hits a rough patch. The defense has been leaking yards, and opponents haven’t hesitated to feast, and the Buffs’ averaging just 22 points a game shows exactly how they have lost the rhythm. With the George era officially closed, the next test is how Deion charts the course from here.