With Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders both punching their NFL tickets, the CFB world sat back and raised the million-dollar question. Would Deion Sanders still be Coach Prime without his boys in Boulder? The speculation was heavy, but the third-year Buffs HC had an answer. He silenced doubters when he signed a 5-year, $54 million extension with Colorado in March. But even with the ink still drying, the summer brought a different kind of challenge. He quietly vanished from the spotlight. Why?

Turns out, Deion Sanders has been battling a health issue. He came clean during a livestream with former NFL CB Asante Samuel on May 30. “I ain’t been in front of nobody for a minute. I lost about 14 pounds,” he said. “I’m coming back, but I needed this. I needed this exchange of energy because I haven’t had the energy.” And now, fast forward to July 5, he’s sending a cryptic message tinged with hope for fans on his new Instagram story. It’s a serene picture of a straight road with trees lining the sides, with the caption, “I’m Coming.” Just two words, and that’s all it took to bring a sense of relief to Buff Nation. 

This two-word message came just days before Deion Sanders was set to hit the Big 12 preseason media circuit at the Dallas Cowboys’ HQs in Frisco, Texas. ESPN will carry the event, which will see the attendance of Buffs star players like Julian Lewis, Jordan Seaton, Kaidon Salter, DJ McKinney, and Alejandro Mata. Is that where the HC makes his spotlight comeback? 

The silence that led up to this possible comeback wasn’t a vacation mode, as USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer said on June 9, Deion Sanders had “been away at his estate in Texas, dealing with an unspecified health issues even as CU’s annual slate of summer football camps got underway last week in Boulder.” He even bailed on a scheduled speech at The Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease Research on June 8. So something deeper was definitely going on. 

Now, Deion Sanders Jr. is leading the PR train. From YouTube clips showing his dad fishing with Travis Hunter to a July 4 video of rapper Lil Wayne dropping by, the message is clear. Deion Sanders is slowly inching back. “Not back active moving around, but it’s progress,” Bucky said. We can’t forget this is the same man who lost two toes to blood clots. He may be Coach Prime, but he’s 57, and he’s human. But just as the smoke was clearing, a lot of spice entered the mix all the way from the NFL. 

Deion Sanders gets a blunt assessment from Deshaun Watson’s coach

When your name is Deion Sanders, you never really catch a break. Quincy Avery, the longtime private QB coach for Deshaun Watson, fired off a take that stopped the scroll. On The Maggie and Perloff Show, he questioned if the Buffs HC ever truly coached for the love of the game or just to boost his sons. “My forecast is that at some point this year, it’s going to get really, really difficult and Deion Sanders is going to have to make a real decision,” he said. “Was he doing this the whole time to prop his son up and help him become this top-tier quarterback — which he did help him do? Or does he want to do this because he really cares about the kids?” 

It’s a gut punch, especially considering this is the first time Deion Sanders’ team won’t include either his son’s or the unicorn in Hunter. From Jackson State to Colorado, Coach Prime’s always had blood on the field. Now, he’ll be coaching solo, and Avery thinks that’ll expose the truth. “The reason I have such a difficult time with Deion is because so many of the things he does, it’s about him rather than other people,” he added. “I think that a lot of people miss that. So we get to see who he is as a person when he has to take on this team without his sons involved.”

Well, Deion Sanders doesn’t duck criticism. He turns it into fuel. And if his cryptic IG post was any indication, the comeback tour is about to get personal. Colorado’s season kicks off August 29 vs. Georgia Tech.