“Makes Me Wanna Do Better”: Colorado’s Star Kicker Reflects on Coach Prime’s Godfatherly Influence in His Life

Deion Sanders’s formula to make Colorado work might not seem to have worked at a macro level, with the 4-8 score, but it sure did change the lives of players, one by one. When Sanders moved from Jackson State to Colorado in 2023, he brought a vision with his 9 Jackson State players. Today, after a year, one of those nine players expresses his gratitude to Coach Prime.

While they lacked in luck in the scores and on-field department, they surely maxed out their luck in the branding department, with most of the Buffs student-athletes getting highly lucrative NIL deals. However, for most, the deals were not the most tempting thing or goal.

Alejandro Mata inspired by Deion Sanders

Alejandro Mata was already thriving at Jackson State earlier. Among his 13 field goals as a true freshman kicker at Jackson State, he completed 12, earning him 50-of-51 for the 86 extra points. Delving head-first into his story with Deion Sanders, Mata said, “So I’m coming in with Coach Prime from Jackson.” Given the opportunities Colorado and Coach Prime have provided him with, it just fuels him to be a better player than he already is. “Makes me wanna kick better for him, makes me wanna do better. Makes me wanna just be a better man overall,” confessed the Buffs kicker in ‘Coach Prime’ on Amazon Prime.

Yet, the third-team FCS Freshman All-America honors were quite humble when it came to bragging about not one but 2 game-changing kicks he made for the Buffs against Arizona State. “I mean, I’m still a misfit. I’m aware I’m not the tallest guy, not the most muscular guy. But you know I’m always getting the job done,” cheekily admitted the kicker. To brush up on the stats of the last winning game of the season by Colorado, Mata scored both his field goals in the 4th quarter: the first 42-yard field goal with 10:13 left on the clock, and another 43-yard field goal with 0:12 left on the clock, pushing the Buffs on the other side of 24-24 tie with a 27-14 win, what a kick that was! As much as the ‘Prime effect’ was seen on the field, it is equally felt on campus as well.

Sanders’s inspiration is reflected in the Colorado course

Just as a source of the influence Coach Prime holds over Colorado, the University of Colorado will soon offer an elective course, ‘Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership’, for the 2024 spring semester.

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The course is mainly designed for college athletes to learn how to profit from their NIL. However, the main inspiration behind the course will continue to be the master branding techniques that Coach Prime diligently used this season.

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