After last season’s 3-9 disappointment, Deion Sanders is not just preaching for change; he is enforcing it. First, by bringing in 42 new players through the transfer portal, and now shifting his focus to what he thinks will change everything—discipline.

Under Sanders’ new policy, Colorado players will now face fines worth thousands of dollars if they don’t meet participation or behavioral rules at team facilities. Those fines are expected to be taken directly from players’ NIL earnings.

“We are on the process right now, but I need men,” Sanders said. “I don’t need boys. I don’t need blamers. Don’t need people who are on the list. I don’t need naysayers. And I’m not having it this year, ain’t no way in the world, cause we’re winning whether you like it or not.”

Coach Prime didn’t sugarcoat it. In a team meeting, he laid out the penalties, ranking them by maximum dollar value so everyone knew exactly what was at stake.

• Public/social media misconduct: up to $5,000 (starting at $2,000)
• No-show to practice: $2,500
• Violation of team rules: up to $2,500 (starting at $1,000)
• No-show to meeting or film session: $2,000
• No-show to strength & conditioning: $1,500
• No-show to treatment: $1,500
• Late to strength & conditioning: $1,000
• Late to treatment: $1,000
• Late to practice: $500
• Late to meeting or film session: $400

However, it’s not like others didn’t see the call coming. Last October, Prime already warned the players when several of them failed to return to practice on time after a bye week. He didn’t take names, but he made the consequences clear: that included benching players for part of the Utah game. Then it felt like a one-off strictness. But, clearly, patience is lost now.

Sanders has banned non-Nike apparel during official team activities and told players to stop wearing gear from their former schools. And he isn’t at all sorry to take that approach.

“Don’t wear your old team’s gear in this facility. That’s disrespectful,” Sanders said. “That would be like your lady wearing her ex’s stuff.”

That’s Coach Prime in a nutshell. What really sets him apart, though, is that no one gets a pass, not even his own kids. Back on August 21, 2024, QB Shedeur Sanders revealed how Prime handled Shilo being late to practice. When asked what happens if someone’s late, Shedeur laughed and said,

“Oh, Dad made him run, like two days ago.”

Even then, Shilo always walked a fine line. Being the coach’s son meant less room for error, not more. And that tendency followed him to the pros. After leaving Colorado for the NFL in 2025, Shilo was fined $4,669 for throwing a punch in a preseason game. That incident ultimately led to his release from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.