Deion Sanders partly attributes Colorado's woeful 2025 season to bladder cancer but believes he has 'swagger' back
Brimming with enthusiasm, a renewed Deion Sanders radiated confidence at the podium on Tuesday, speaking to an array of reporters lining the tables at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas, where the talking season of the college football calendar officially began.
Optimism is rampant this time of year, and Sanders himself — a Pro Football Hall of Famer at a position that requires a short memory — is programmed to look forward, not back. Even so, the fourth-year Colorado head coach offered a glimpse of what went catastrophically wrong for the Buffaloes amid their 3-9 campaign last season.
A year after entering the mix for the conference title game with Shedeur Sanders at quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter starring on both sides of the ball, the Buffs faceplanted, losing seven of their final eight games and clocking out 1-8 in Big 12 play. Sanders admitted, according to ESPN, that his bladder cancer factored into that regression. His diagnosis, and subsequent bladder removal, called for him to be away from the team from May last year until fall camp. Plus, he noted that even when he was back around campus, he was far from 100%, lacking the "quickness" of "being free of thought," per ESPN.
"And that's where I was," said Sanders, who described himself as cancer-free last month, via ESPN. "So, I'm putting that on me. I'm putting that on me, that it was some holes that I saw that I didn't make the adjustments on. I should have shot some things early on."
There was a moment during Sanders' podium media availability on Tuesday when he opened up about how his younger self would be proud of how he fought cancer.
"Now I'm here with full strength, full energy," he said. "I got that thing back. I got that swagger back. I got that dog back. I got that charisma back.
"See, last year I had on shorts up under suit. I had on a sweatsuit up under suit because I was probably 15 pounds down looking like Eddie King up here, [for] those of you that seen 'The Five Heartbeats.' But now I'm ready. I'm back. I'm close to 204 ... I'm back, baby. I cannot wait."
Sanders will turn 59 in August. He confirmed to reporters Tuesday that he feels healthy enough to keep coaching for a long time. That said, he wanted to keep the attention on the present.
The Buffs weren't gifted an easy slate to begin the 2026 season. They have to go on the road to face Georgia Tech and Northwestern in two of their first three games. Sandwiched in between is a home game versus FCS Weber State. Their first home game against an FBS opponent is on Oct. 3 against defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech.
Sanders appears unfazed. He likes what he has in quarterback Julian Lewis, a former four-star recruit and top-10 QB in the 2025 class, coordinators Brennan Marion (offense) and Chris Marve (defense) and a roster that reportedly includes 66 new players. He's taking one day at a time, anyway, with his eyes fixated on Colorado's Thursday night opener at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
"I'm excited about everything that we have on this roster because I feel like we have the team to win — and I cannot wait to see it," he said.
