College Football

Deion Sanders is ahead of the game, health issues and all

Updated Jun. 28, 2023 3:26 p.m. ET

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RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Colorado coach Deion Sanders — AKA Coach Prime — is sitting in rarefied air, even from a hospital bed and without overseeing a single snap at Colorado.

Peep game: Prime has struggled with left foot pain since having two toes amputated in 2021 because of blood clot issues while coaching at Jackson State. He has needed daily foot massages to stimulate blood flow, and he uses a Segway, scooter and cart to get around.

He has basically given up running ever again. Two of his three remaining toes on his left foot are what Prime calls "hammer toes," an injury where there’s an atypical bend in the middle joint of his toes. The surgery he endured last Friday was to cut a blood clot from each of his legs. He still needs to have one more surgery to correct the hammer toe on his left foot.

Like most former pro football players, Prime is no stranger to major surgery. Prime, who turns 56 in August, is expected to recover fully and be back to his team well before preseason camp. That's how the greats do it.

Nick Saban had hip replacement surgery in April 2019 at age 67. By the next day, he was back at the office grinding.

Deion Sanders poised for great season despite health issues

Since we’re here, Prime went 27-6 in his first three seasons as a head coach — the first of which was played in the spring amid a plague. Yet he still won two conference titles in each of the last two years, as well as Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year in Year 2.

That's the shot. Here's the chaser.

Lincoln Riley went 36-6 in his first three with three conference titles and three double-digit win seasons, but not a single national title game appearance.

Dabo Swinney went 20-15 in his first 2.5 years without a conference title, without a double-digit win season, and without a national coach of the year honor. 

Kirby Smart went 32-10 in his first three years with two double-digit win seasons and one conference title but without a national coach of the year honor. 

Saban went 21-13-1 in his first three years, without a conference title and two double-digit win seasons.

Saban never won a Big Ten Conference title at Michigan State, didn't win his first conference title until his eighth year (LSU, 2001), and didn't earn his first National Coach of the Year award (Paul "Bear" Bryant) until 2003 (Year 10), when he also won his first national title.

In that same stretch of time — from 1990 to 2003 — Prime won two Super Bowls, made eight All-Pro Teams, and won NFL Defensive Player of the Year. 

And if you’re asking why I’m comparing the two, I’ll point you to the AFLAC commercials where they do their Crockett and Tubbs act every fall. 

And Prime is the only coach I listed here who won double-digit games, won a conference title and appeared in the national title game all in his first three years as head a coach. Not Riley. Not Swinney. Not Smart. Not Saban.

What I'm saying is Prime is coming straight for your castle. You better guard your queen, or you might see your city sacked in Prime Time.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The Number One College Football Show" on YouTube.

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