Last week, Julian Lewis turned heads at Big 12 Media Day. Asked about his freshman transition, the young quarterback admitted he barely studied opposing defenses last year, describing his approach as “high school free-balling”. Coming off a rough season, that level of candor put head coach Deion Sanders straight into the spotlight.

The drama started when Lewis admitted the team was basically “free-balling” on the field last year due to poor preparation and a lack of defensive scouting. Fans and former players immediately reacted to those controversial comments, with many criticizing the program’s previous coaching culture and whatnot, and others questioning the maturity of the young quarterback.

Instead of making a big scene out of it, Deion Sanders hopped onto Scott Proctor’s podcast and put Lewis on alert.

“We’re simplifying a lot of things, which means not that he’s not capable, which means that, ‘Hey, dog, again, let’s go out there and play your game.’ We don’t need nothing else,” Deion Sanders said. “Just play your game. Run the play. See the guy, throw the ball. Cool. Just simplify. Let’s simplify everything and play your game because he has all the intangibles that you need to be successful. Let’s do it. Let’s study. Let’s prepare. These receivers are trying to go pro, so they’re depending on you.”

The goal here is to get Lewis to stop overthinking every single snap and just react with his natural football instincts.

To clean up the process, Sanders brought in offensive coordinator Brennan Marion to work closely with Lewis on his signature Go-Go offense. Marion quickly praised the young quarterback’s raw potential.

“He truly does have a million-dollar arm… As far as his arm talent, he is in the class of Quinn Ewers and those types of guys when you talk about being able to throw the ball at an elite level,” Brennan said this off-season.

However, even though Coach Prime says he isn’t trying to stress his quarterback out, he does drop a little reality check about the guys running the routes. He reminds JuJu that these wide receivers are trying to make it to the NFL. Their professional futures heavily depend on the ball placement they get from Lewis. So, it’s the least JuJu could do.

The good news is Sanders isn’t asking JuJu to become a 10-year NFL veteran overnight. He has no interest in making the redshirt freshman carry the emotional weight of the entire locker room or organize extra player-only meetings like Shedeur Sanders did.

According to Sanders, the Buffs already have about 12 – 15 players who served as captains at their previous schools. Leadership is already taken care of. That leaves JuJu with one simple responsibility, which is ‘be free and go out there and ball.’

Looking ahead to the season, Lewis’ spicy criticism and Deion’s public response are setting up the ultimate test for the young signal-caller. The college football world’s going to be watching closely to see if Lewis can turn his big words into calm, winning football under Brennan Marion’s new system.

Perhaps it’s time for the freshman to move past the old drama, handle the alert from his coach, and prove he can win games.