The saying goes, “They mock first, then mimic later.”

This is something that resonates most with the Colorado Buffaloes HC Deion Sanders. After all, ever since he has taken up his coaching role, he has often been tagged as ‘mad’ or ‘crazy’ for his decisions. That’s because Deion has always been the one to challenge the traditions. But at the same time, he also gets copied. This time has been no different. Courtesy? The spring practice. Well, Coach Prime thought of bringing a revolution, breaking free of the same team setup. Rather, he wishes to play against an opponent this spring. Going by Coach Prime’s wish, he wants his boys to play against Bill Belichick’s North Carolina team. Now is his wish going to come true? 

So, it all started with Deion, who caught up with some FOMO feels. Given the trend that coaches are canceling their spring games, they don’t have much time before it gets abolished. So, Deion has raised his wish to play against other programs. Lucky Coach Prime! In no time, he heard it from Syracuse HC Fran Brown, who tweeted, “We will come to Boulder for 3 days.” Well, in Syracuse’s case, Deion did not take any name. However, here comes an interesting update. On the March 26 episode of the Locked on Buffs podcast, analyst Kevin Borba shared, “Carl Reed at 247 Sports reports Deion Sanders wants a matchup with North Carolina. [Bill Belichick] wants to be as pro-oriented as possible, And so we get this sort of Deion Sanders vs. Bill Belichick idea.” 

Borba then referred to what North Carolina’s GM, Michael Lombardi, said on the Pat McAfee show. “He’s like, ‘You know what we’re not doing a spring game right. We’re doing an NFL style – Like OTA vibes.’ We’re not doing a spring game.” See, Even though there might be some rivalry between the two teams in spring games, Deion and Belichick have always been cordial towards each other. For instance, Coach Prime was really happy with the ex-NFL HC’s decision to try out head coaching in college. No matter whether Belichick has agreed or not, analysts started to see a lot of doubts. The biggest concern being injuries. However, by now, Deion has become a pro in tackling doubts.  After all, he knows in the end, people end up copying him. In this case, he did not have to wait for much long to get the proof. 

Thanks to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. He threw an open challenge to fight against Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners this spring. Now, what better way to reignite the good ol’ Bedlam rivalry? Borba thus dished out his take on the situation. “It makes me laugh because there were so many concerns when Deion Sanders said it. And then now all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh it’s a good idea right we’re all going to do it.'” Borba then focused on how everything new starts with Deion. “I think most of the time he comes up with an idea it’s sort of like oh my gosh this guy’s crazy like he can’t pull this off right. That’s this isn’t going to happen. But for the most part Deion Sanders… he feels very trendsetter-ish.”

Now, not just in the case of spring games. It has happened with the transfer portal, too. After all, it was the Buffs HC who invented the reliance on the transfer portal. He tried bringing in as many new guys as possible. But this time, will Deion’s wish be granted? An analyst came up with a reality check.

Will Deion Sanders’ wish land in the NCAA’s spam list? 

NCAA rules currently don’t allow FBS teams to conduct spring practices or spring games against one another. In that way, to grant Coach Prime’s wish, the NCAA will have to break free of the traditions. However, Deion found the support of Texas Tech HC Joey McGuire in his push to add a competitive flavor to the spring games. “This is something that’s totally out of the box whenever it comes to college football, which, everything in college football the last couple of years has been out of the box.”

But at the same time, someone is still in doubt whether the NCAA will be lenient or not. ESPN analyst Rece Davis painted a bleak picture for the Colorado HC. As per the reports, both Colorado’s and Syracuse’s compliance offices have filed formal paperwork with the NCAA office to hold a competitive spring scrimmage. On the March 26 episode of the ESPN College Football podcast, Davis said, “I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe it will get approved this year.” What makes him feel so? 

“Changing something that quickly but all of the having offered the reasons and the bureaucracy and the things that will probably stop it from happening this year.” April 10 is the date when The Division I FBS Oversight Committee is scheduled to meet and could potentially make a decision at that meeting. Can Coach Prime lead another movement, or will the NCAA hit pause?