Colorado HC Deion Sanders away from team, dealing with illness

Summer workouts are underway for the Colorado Buffaloes, but the team is currently operating without Head Coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders. The man who revived CU football is battling an undisclosed illness and is at his home in Texas for the time being.

USA Today first reported the news on Monday.

Sanders, 57, has fought through a multitude of health issues surrounding blood clots that developed from previous procedures over the years. The NFL Hall of Famer had two toes on his left foot amputed back in 2022 due to the blood clots, and more clots in his legs caused him to undergo another procedure that kept him from attending the 2023 Pac-12 Media Day.

Coach Prime was scheduled to speak at the FSCDR Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease Research’s Annual Symposium on Sunday, but didn’t end up attending the event due to a “last-minute scheduling change.”

We are excited to announce that Earvin "Magic" Johnson will now serve as the Foundation Keynote Speaker for this year’s Annual Symposium! A legend on and off the court, Johnson is a celebrated entrepreneur, philanthropist, and advocate whose story of perseverance and leadership… pic.twitter.com/zNtIbxRt6s

— FSCDR Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease Research (@FundSickleCell) June 5, 2025

Sanders’ son, Deion Jr., provided a brief update on his father on Sunday, saying that Coach Prime was “feeling well” but didn’t have a clear picture on when he and his father would return to Boulder to join the Buffs.

The absence will also prevent Coach Prime from attending the annual Colorado Football Youth Camp, a two-day camp held up in Boulder for kids in third grade all the way up to eighth grade. He was present at the camps the previous two seasons, as it is stated in his contract that the head coach must operate “a minimum of three (3) on-campus Football camps during June, July, and August of each Contract Year.”

Sanders recently talked about his illness at the end of May when he appeared on a podcast with two-time Super Bowl Champion Asante Samuel. He seemed to get in good spirits about whatever issue he was dealing with, but what he said made it sound very serious.

“What I’m dealing with is on a whole ‘nother level,” Sanders said. “Honestly, I’ve done no media, I’ve done nothing for … a minute, so, coming on with you, I ain’t been on with nobody in a minute. You see, I lost my 14 pounds, like, I’m coming back, but I needed this.”

Since the 2025 NFL Draft, which saw his son and former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders slide all the way to the fifth round, Coach Prime has been far away from the spotlight, something very unusual for him. With his health issue now public, it makes much more sense as to why no one has heard from him in some time.

He posted a message on Instagram on Monday, saying that he’s “thankful for the little things that we sometimes take for granted,” showing that his spirits were not in the dumps despite the health issues. He then followed it up with a post on X on Tuesday saying that “tomorrow ain’t promised.”

 

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Let's attack today with all we have. Let's give today everything we got. Let's not save ourselves for tomorrow knowing tomorrow ain't promised. Let's go all out baby. I believe in you & you Believe in what God has bestowed upon u. Let's go! #CoachPrime

— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) June 10, 2025

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