There’s a battle inside Colorado’s football program, and it has nothing to do with Georgia Tech, the depth chart, or the Big 12. It’s the screen in a player’s hand. As the Buffaloes wrap up camp for the 2026 season, Deion Sanders is making one thing clear. If Julian Lewis or any other Colorado player is getting paid to play college football, his phone cannot be more important than his game film.
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Sanders wasn’t talking about players texting home or checking scores. He was talking about hours spent scrolling social media and playing video games instead of pulling up game film on their own time, the same habit that’s become a fall camp talking point across college football this year.
“Screen time… that’s your thing,” he said via JaKi on X, in an excerpt from Darius Sanders’ YouTube video. “We got you to do our thing for free. We just want you to do our thing…and we paying you.”
Sanders backed up his message by pointing to NFL legends like Marshall Faulk and Emmitt Smith, guys who treated film study like a job, not a chore. He also looked back at his own playing days, splitting time between the NFL and Major League Baseball, long before smartphones or instant video apps existed.
Back then, if you wanted to study an opponent, you carried the tape yourself. Sanders kept a personal library of VHS tapes in storage, watching game after game because that was the only way to prepare when practice reps were hard to come by.
“I kept a log, and I kept a book, and I kept a library of videotape VHS’s of the sort in my day and error,” he said. “And I still got them in my storage of all these guys and all these games, game after game after game after game. Had to study and had to study and had to study and had to prepare.”
This wasn’t just an old-school lecture from a Hall of Famer looking to reminisce. It was a direct response to a season that hurt. Colorado went from a promising 9-4 finish in 2024 to a rough 3-9 record in 2025, and that kind of fall doesn’t happen quietly in Boulder.
With real money now moving through the program under NIL deals, and boosters already vocal about wanting results instead of excuses, fans expect a team that studies like professionals, not one still running on high school habits.
Julian Lewis has already talked about changing his own approach. The former 5-star QB spent much of his freshman season behind Kaidon Salter, although he did get onto the field.
He threw four touchdowns without an interception, but completed just 55% of his passes and went 0-2 in his appearances. At Big 12 Media Days back in July, he admitted that his preparation needed to change.
“I’m actually looking at the defenses now,” he said. “Last year we weren’t really looking at defenses much, just kind of high school free-balling, just out there playing football.”
That is the kind of habit Deion Sanders is trying to kill. The Buffs have new coordinators in Brennan Marion and Chris Marve, and the head coach has called the staff the best he has worked with. But none of that matters much if the players aren’t ready when the ball is snapped.
Deion Sanders has made that part clear, too. Players who don’t prepare will be called out. If necessary, they can lose their place on the field. Colorado needs improvement after falling from 9-4 in 2024 to 3-9 last season. Now Julian Lewis and the rest of the roster have another assignment. Pick up the film and prove the difference matters when Colorado opens against Georgia Tech on Sept. 3.