University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders faces his first season without sons Shedeur and Shiloh Sanders, who both moved on to the NFL. Now a prominent quarterback trainer is questioning whether Sanders coached primarily to advance his sons’ careers.
Sanders led Colorado to a 9-4 record last season, finishing in a four-way tie for first in the Big 12 Conference. Tiebreakers kept Colorado from playing in the Big 12 Championship Game, and their season ended with a loss to BYU in the Alamo Bowl. Four players, including Shedeur and wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter, were selected in the 2025 draft.
Want to bet on the NFL?
See the best NYC Sports Betting sites
Quarterback trainer Quincy Avery, who has worked with several NFL quarterbacks including Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, recently appeared on Infinity Sports Network’s “Maggie and Perloff”. When asked about Sanders and the upcoming season for Colorado, Avery said this season will be telling if Sanders was a coach just to help his kids get to the next level.
“Deion Sanders is going to have to make a real decision,” Avery said. “Was he doing this this whole time to prop his son up and help him become this top-tier quarterback, which he did help him do, or does he want to do this because he really cares about the kids? He’s never coached a team in which his sons did not play for. If he’s never done that, this is going to be brand new to him and he’s going to really find out that this is something that he truly wants or was he loving it because he got to help out his kids in a real way?”
Avery said he has not always agreed with Sanders’ approach to coaching in Colorado, suggesting that Sanders was doing it for his own benefit.
“I think every dad, or every parent, would love to help their kids out in the way that he has,” Avery said. “The reason that I have such a difficult time with Deion is because I think that so much of the things that he does is about him rather than other people, and I think that just a lot of people miss that. We will get to see kind of who he is as a person when he has to take on this team without his sons involved.”
With key departures from last season’s roster, Colorado faces lowered expectations for the upcoming season as Sanders prepares to prove his coaching motivations extend beyond his family.
Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.