“I’m Going to Straighten You Up”: Warren Sapp Issues Clear Warning to Shedeur Sanders & Co. As Colorado Clears Its Intentions

Coach Prime has set forth the motto, “We comin’,” for the Colorado Buffaloes this season. After their disappointing 4-8 record last season, he wants to see a change. He needs to see a change. For this to happen, he doesn’t just require his players’ support. Everyone on the team needs to work towards it, and the best part is that Warren Sapp is already on board with the cultural shift that’s started in Boulder.

Warren Sapp was appointed as the graduate assistant football coach in March, and since then, the NFL Hall of Famer has fit right in. Fast forward three months and the Buffaloes are doing something very unlike them, especially since Deion Sanders took over. After he arrived in Boulder, the Buffs’ social media presence has skyrocketed. As beneficial as that’s been, it’s also had a negative impact, courtesy of comments made by the likes of Cormani McClain. To avoid a similar situation and foster an environment of direct communication, Coach Prime & Co. has started a no-phone policy.

While Shilo Sanders may feel that “Coach Prime is going way too far” by banning phones in the meeting room or during meals, Warren Sapp is completely on board. In an episode of Thee Pregame Show, Uncle Neely said, “I had lunch with Warren Sapp. He has two phones and both of them were in the container and he was talking to players at the table.” Well, that’s not the only thing he’s on board with. Speaking to Uncle Neely on Thee Pregame Network, Sapp gave a sneak peek into the mentality of Phil Loadholt, the OC, and himself on the sidelines.

One thing was very clear. The coaches were “demanding” all the hard work. Uncle Neely said, “You’re teaching the guy on defense something. He’s using that against one of our guys on offense, who’s indirectly learning not to do that as well. Everybody [is] getting better in this competition.” While this is the premise of what Sapp and Loadholt are trying to achieve together, there may be times when a player may not do what they’re meant to. For this, Sapp has a simple fix: “You come at me sideways, I’m going to take it. It’s okay. Now I’m going to straighten you up.”

He warned, “It ain’t sideways, so we got a direct line of communication,” issuing a clear code of the ways they are following this season to train Shedeur Sanders & Co. “It’s not personal,” Sapp iterated about being hard on the players. Uncle Neely took the players’ side, saying, “It’s June. I have seen them now. They are happily giving you what you demand.” What Warren Sapp said next was with a clear ‘they better do’ attitude.

“The thing I’ve always gone by is: the good Lord helps those who help themselves. Meet me, son. I promise I’ll go more than halfway” for a player when and if they truly want to learn something. This will not only bring out the best performance from the players but also fulfill the standard that Deion Sanders has set. And Warren Sapp has already started working with the Buffaloes to achieve this.

In a video posted by The Pregame Show on Instagram, the former defensive tackle – who played in the NFL for 13 seasons and developed quite a repertoire with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Las Vegas Raiders – was conducting an intense session with the defensive line. And as all good coaches do, he gave them tips and pointers every step of the way, even showing them exactly how it’s done. Watching him lead by example, the caption of the post rang true: “Don’t wanna be like the rest, come to Colorado and be coached by the best – literally. Two gold jackets on staff.” 

As a Super Bowl winner himself, Warren Sapp’s vision matches that of Deion Sanders for the Colorado Buffaloes. He wants to make it to the playoffs.

Deion Sanders’ expectations from the Colorado Buffaloes

Coach Prime is not leaving any stone unturned for the upcoming season. Revamped rosters like Pat Shurmur, the former New York Giants head coach, were surely a way out, but that alone wouldn’t be enough for his plan. So, new policies and their strict implementation became the norm. The players at Buffs are almost experiencing a new wave of culture in the making at Boulder. First, the strict implementation on-field, as Warren Sapp pointed out, and now the stringent following of the no-phone policy in the cafeteria.

During breakfasts and lunches, the Buffs are banned from using their phones. Additionally, they also have to “talk more” to other players to bridge the communication gap among the players. If all the little rules are not implemented, the players might not get a chance on-field. Not to mention, the out-of-the-box training ideas he has been implementing. In May, Deion Sanders Jr posted a video of all the Buffs members training in the pool, hard at work for the upcoming season.

As Uncle Neely puts it in Coach Prime’s words: “If you’re not disciplined enough to get to a meeting on time, you’re not gonna be disciplined enough to wait on that snap and get that good jump.” As Colorado players undergo a cultural revolution, would it result in them getting perfect enough to make it to the playoffs? Only time will tell.