Will Deion Sanders’ health problems impact his ability to coach the Colorado Buffaloes this season?

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders fought through and beat bladder cancer, an accomplishment that is worth appreciating for anyone in this world. Now, he’s back in Boulder and ready to lead the Colorado Buffaloes through the 2025 season. Sanders was honest and transparent about the entire situation, a scary one for the entire college football world, not just Buffs Faithful.

Sanders acknowledged that his life is going to be much different going forward, and his medical team echoed that sentiment. He now has an artificial bladder, constructed from his small intestine, and other complications from his 14th surgical procedure that will make the simple things in life challenging going forward.

"It's a whole life change … I can't pee like I used to" -Coach Prime

— Trent Finnegan (@trent_finnegan2) July 28, 2025

Given all the issues that have tried to drag him down, will his ability to lead the Colorado Buffaloes through the gauntlet of a Power 4 college football season be hampered by the diagnosis?

Not a chance. A common thing with coaches who have dealt with medical problems in the past is to take a step back and perform their coaching duties from up in the box, but Sanders had no indication that he would be anywhere but the sidelines in Folsom Field on gameday. Now, the sidelines might look a bit different, but he’ll be down there, sporting his patented sunglasses that Colorado fans have seen on Saturdays for the past couple of seasons.

"If you see a porta potty on the sideline [at Folsom Field], it's real" – Coach Prime with some jokes after revealing what he's dealt with

— Trent Finnegan (@trent_finnegan2) July 28, 2025

His absence definitely changed some things this summer, as he was not in Boulder to be with the team for offseason workouts, or to be with the recruits when they came to Boulder to check out the city and the program to see if they wanted to play at the foot of the flatirons. The Buffs did miss out on some high-profile recruits this offseason, including a four-star offensive lineman from Windsor, but they still managed to secure a good amount of talent that is scheduled to join the team in 2026.

Sanders credited his coaching staff for taking care of things while he was away, but assured that he’s back and he’s ready to roll.

“I don’t have to rely on [the coaching staff], I’m back baby,” Sanders said at a press conference on Monday. “I’m back, I don’t rely on them no more. I’m going to be with them … We’re going to comfort one another, and I love them. We have a wonderful staff and thank God that they’re good enough that I don’t have to babysit. I don’t have to be there every minute and I know that they got that.”

Sanders said that the coaching staff was in the dark about what he was dealing with, just like the rest of the world. So were the players.

“It ain’t like I told them anything, I think they found out yesterday like the team found out. They didn’t know,” Sanders said.

If a complication were to arise and Sanders were to need to take a step back, it would not be the end of the world. Pat Shurmur handles the offensive play calling and Robert Livingston handles the defensive play calling. The only thing that would have to change is one of those two — or someone else on the coaching staff, which is unlikely — would have to handle the game management scenarios, and Shurmur would be ready to do so given his head coaching experience at the NFL level.

Again, that’s not happening, but likely is what would happen if something were to go south.

As things currently stand after Sanders’ press conference, it seems that there will be no change to what the CU fanbase has seen on the sidelines for now due to his health from a coaching standpoint.

The porta potty thing was technically a joke, but who knows, Sanders seems like the guy who would actually get one out there just to have some fun with the situation.

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