The might of the Buffaloes will lock their horns with UCF’s shining white knights! The feelings are tense; the stage is set, and the battle is ready to commence on September 28th. The friction that usually exists between two rival coaches doesn’t seem to be reflected between Deion Sanders and Guz Malzahn, who continue to shower each other with compliments.

The Colorado Buffaloes have undergone one of the biggest revamp in recent college history and it’s all because Deion Sanders chose to come to Boulder. With a high rise in the revenue that the football program usually generates, Deion, or rather Coach Prime has made the Buffaloes one of the most influential teams this season, without actually making a mark on the scoreboard. These are the feelings that Malzahn resonated with and now, Deion is paying back the favor by publicly appreciating the Central Florida coach.

Guz Malzahn recruited Shedeur right after school, and Deion is still grateful

The Mile High Sports page took to X on 2nd August to share a clip of Deion giving back praise to Malzahn on account of his appreciation for his progress with the Buffaloes. Deion iterated a story of how Malzahn played a direct role in recruiting Shedeur out of high school and said, “Much love to Gus Malzahn of UCF. Just ran across him. I’m just highlighting a couple of coaches because they’ve been so kind, they’ve been so kind, they’ve been so considerate, they’ve been so wonderful to me and he recruited Shedeur out of high school and I remember going over there in Auburn and he’s just been the same consistent man since.”

These are quite the rare incidents when coaches on opposite teams go on to deeply admire each other, despite knowing that they’ll go to any lengths to ensure their team goes ahead in the conference. And yet, the brief exchange of compliments between Deion and Gus shows us the sportsmanship spirit that still exists within the bounds of college football. Only recently Malzahn was asked about Deion since the two teams will meet in September soon and as per the coach, Deion has “brought more attention in the last two years than they may have had since they won the national championship.”

Seeing as how the team won their only national championship in 1990, Deion’s influence in two years is worth more than two decades of progress that the program has made, as per Malzahn. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him and the way he does it. I do it my way, he does his way. We’re both outsiders“- these are the words that Malzahn chose to end his admiration for Deion, while also emphasizing the publicity he’s brought to the team.

Whatever takes place on September 28th and whoever comes out as the victor, it will be assured that both the coaches will shake each other’s hands out of sheer respect and love rather than just an unspecified rule of formality. With all that said, let’s see what the UCF coach had to say about the talents of Shedeur Sanders and his NFL prospects.

Guz Malzahn praises Shedeur as a great quarterback

Before Malzahn took to the mic recently, it was none other than Skip Bayless who chimed in with his high praise for Shedeur Sanders. Seeing how he’s been such a harsh critic of Deion in the past, it was almost ironic to see the analyst commend his son with such high honor. Bayless complimented Shedeur and termed him as “the best quarterback in this country.” He further added, “And he is going to be the first pick in the draft and I think he’s going to be really, really good in pro football.”

Adding on to Bayless’s compliments, Malzahn also seems to think that there isn’t any better QB in the 2024 class than Shedeur. The UCF HC commented about how he saw his potential back during his 10th grade, thus, echoing the strong relationship that he shares with the Sanders family to date. Malzahn said, “His son’s one of the best in the country. I saw that at a camp when he was going into 10th grade. That guy’s really good, he just happens to be Deion Sanders’s son.”

It is unclear whether Malzahn is proud of Shedeur or worried about him since he will be the biggest weapon in Colorado’s arsenal in their game together but as it’s been pointed out, the match between the two teams will be played in the most dire settings of respect and the spirit of the game, rather than a battlefield with a thirst for ruthlessness.