The Colorado Buffaloes are off to a rough start this season, falling to a 1-2 record after a loss to the Houston Cougars and sitting at 0-1 in Big 12 play. With playoff hopes at stake and plenty of problems to fix, the task ahead looks daunting. But Deion Sanders, who transformed a 1-11 team in 2022 into a 9-4 squad by 2024, knows how to spark a turnaround. Perhaps that’s why, as Colorado prepares to face a team defined by religious tradition, Sanders has once again turned to one of his core guiding principles: bringing his players together through faith-based guidance. 

As shared on the September 24 episode of Well Off Media, he brought Pastor Cartwright into the locker room to speak to the players about responsibility and shared purpose. Addressing the central theme of the talk, 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.” And The players echoed, “Together.” 

He then connected togetherness with responsibility: “When you start thinking about what I need to do together, you’re not just thinking about how you’re going to make yourself come up. You’re thinking about…helping somebody else make it. If we win, we’re going to do it because we did it together. And that’s what allows me to talk about responsibility and why being responsible is so important. It’s a part of being a man.” Then, drawing directly from the scriptures, he added: 

“Oh, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity….It actually says it’s like the oil that came down from Aaron’s beard. That oil was anointing oil, oil of empowerment. That man couldn’t do what he needed to do without that oil. And the Bible literally says your unity is like oil. It empowers you to win, but you can’t win by yourself. And you can’t win being selfish. You got to win thinking about somebody else.” Building on that, Pastor Cartwright emphasized accountability. 

He reminded the players, “You can’t be responsible if you’re not accountable. You got to be accountable to somebody or something else. And that’s going to help us answer this one question: When you go out there and play, what are you playing for? Who are you playing for?”

He asked the players to stand and lock arms with the men beside them and consider who they were playing for and what they were playing for. “I know you may be playing for your kids. I know you’re playing for your moms. But reality is, you’re also playing for the man you locked arms with right now. Can you be responsible enough to be accountable enough for him? Does he matter? Reality is how you play together determines where you go together, how you win together, how you succeed together, and how you celebrate together. If you can’t do it together, then why are you here?”

That question hit at a tense moment for Colorado. Tight end Zach Atkins, a transfer from Northwest Missouri State, spoke bluntly after the Houston loss: “I’m not happy with how things are going right now… I’m a winner.” Defensive back Tawfiq Byard pointed to missed tackles and players being out of position as evidence of deeper execution and focus issues. Even the quarterback situation is unsettled; Ryan Staub’s struggles against Houston led Sanders to hint at changes, with veteran Kaidon Salter or five-star freshman JuJu Lewis waiting for a shot.

He closed with a series of questions for the team: “How we going to win? How we going to play? How we going to move? How we going to celebrate?” Each time, the players responded in unison: “Together.” Pastor Cartwright’s speech might just be what the team needs. But it’s nothing new for Sanders, whose life and career have long been intertwined with faith.

Coach Prime’s spiritual awakening came in 1997, after a su*cide attempt during the turbulence of divorce. During an interview with ANDSCAPE in 2018, he shared, “I finally just got on my knees and gave it all to the Lord. Slowly, but surely, I had to deal with my faith, deal with my strength.”

Bringing his faith to Trinity Christian College, he once told his players and community, “We love the Lord. We love education. We’re all about doing the right thing for these kids.” That same approach followed him to Jackson State, where from 2020 to 2022, he regularly invited pastors to speak, led team prayers, and openly declared, “I’m not going to be ashamed of the gospel”. Even in Colorado, under the microscope of public scrutiny, Sanders remained steadfast, leading a September 2024 postgame prayer with Pastor E. Dewey Smith after the Baylor matchup. 

Here’s to hoping that the pastor’s words bring in the effect Sanders desired for the team. Because after BYU, road trips to TCU and Utah are scheduled with Iowa State at Folsom; this is a ranked and difficult gauntlet that will punish every lapse in protection, run, and third-down execution. If Colorado wants this 1-2 start to translate into even a 9-3 season, there are only a few things they can do inside four walls that will help. A wiser plan is to accompany the thought of unity with deliberate practice, and that’s how they’ll be able to make their affirmations true.