What does it take for a Hall of Famer to start over at 50? For Warren Sapp, it wasn’t money, fame, or even boredom. It was one phone call from Deion Sanders. The same man who once locked down half the field is now convincing his old friends to shut down college football backfields. And when Coach Prime dials your number, you answer, even if you once swore you’d never step foot in Mississippi. 

In Episode 6 of Coach Primes’s Playbook, as posted by Romi Bean on October 2, Warren Sapp peeled back the curtain on how Deion Sanders changed the trajectory of his life. When asked what made him get into coaching, he didn’t hesitate. “Me and Deion had that conversation when he first took off to go to Jackson State, and I told him, I said, ‘I love you to death, but there’s no way in hell I’m coming to Mississippi,’” he recounted without filter. “So when he got an opportunity to come here, he called me and say, ‘I ain’t got no dogs right now, but when I get a couple, I’m going to need you.’ So that’s when I started the process of me going and finishing my degree. So when he did call me, I would be available for him. So that’s how we got here.” And just like that, the QB Killa went back to school. 

At a golden age, Warren Sapp enrolled in school once more to complete his undergraduate degree. This qualification made him eligible to join Deion Sanders as a graduate assistant on his coaching staff in 2024. For a man who once thought classrooms were in the rearview mirror, the decision was a life-changer. Now 52, this man wasn’t just another retiree killing time. He had already lived a Hollywood-sized life.

Drafted 12th overall in 1995, Warren Sapp is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion with Tampa Bay in 2003. By the time he hung up his cleats in 2007, he had earned an estimated $58 million. Then came the crash of a 2012 bankruptcy filing in South Florida listing $6.7 million in debts. Post-football, he dabbled in TV gigs, danced his way to a runner-up finish on Dancing with the Stars, and even fought off a shark while lobstering in the Keys. The man’s highlight reel extended far beyond the gridiron. Yet nothing lit him up like this new chapter. 

Today, Warren Sapp serves as Colorado’s senior defensive quality control analyst, pocketing $150,000 a year while molding pass rushers for Coach Prime. “For someone that never wanted to do this, I am really addicted to it right now,” he admitted last August. “The babies are really giving me a purpose in life.” Last year, the results spoke loudly. Under his watch, Colorado’s sack total leaped from 28 to 39, and the Buffs ranked 16th nationally in sack yards. Suddenly, trenches were an identity. But this year? Not so much.

From Deion Sanders’ call to Deion Sanders’ critics

Flash forward to this fall. Colorado hosted BYU, and despite being 49.5-point underdogs, folks thought Deion Sanders’ crew might pull off something wild. Instead, the Buffs dropped another gut-punch, losing 21-24. And while the HC went nuclear at the podium, saying, “I’m at a loss for words. I take responsibility for the foolishness we call football,” the fingers quickly pointed elsewhere.

On Nightcap, Chad Johnson didn’t mince words. Trenches, trenches, trenches. “You live and die in the trenches,” he said, taking a subtle jab at Warren Sapp. And the numbers back him up. Colorado ranks 125th in rushing defense, coughing up nearly 200 yards a game, including 209 to Houston in a 20-36 loss. Even the pass rush, once Sapp’s calling card, is sputtering with just 1.2 sacks per game, 111th nationally. 

So here’s the million-dollar question. Was Warren Sapp’s comeback story too good to be true, or is this just the rough patch before the breakthrough? Because if history tells us anything, this man doesn’t quit. And neither does the man who called him.