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Matt Rhule pays ultimate respect to Deion Sanders: ‘He’s won at everything he’s done’
By Paul Harvey
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Matt Rhule has embarked on his first season at Nebraska, falling to Minnesota in a heartbreaking loss to begin Week 1. Now, Rhule and the Huskers will regroup and face another head coach at a new program this fall.
That coach is Deion Sanders, making his highly-anticipated debut at Colorado in Week 1. The Buffaloes won that game against TCU in dramatic fashion for Coach Prime’s successful debut.
At his Monday press conference, Rhule admitted he’s not surprised by Sanders’ hot start at Colorado. He called the former NFL superstar a true “football guy” who has always been serious about football wherever he has been.
“Coach Sanders is a football guy so while you can watch all these peripheral things… At the end of the day, when has he ever not been serious about football? He’s been a head coach now, he’s won at both places,” said Rhule. “They’ve got elite players, elite skill players up and down the front. Anywhere you have a great QB you’re gonna have a great chance to win, so no, I wasn’t surprised at all.”
Asked to describe what it means to be “a football guy,” Rhule explained Sanders has won at every role in football. He also pointed out Sanders was among the hardest-playing people in the sport, so it’s natural for Sanders’ teams to play the same way.
“He’s won at everything he’s done in football. He’s won as a player, he’s won as a coach. I think everyone — everyone outside, not me — everyone else thinks well this is all a show. He’s the most serious person about football,” Rhule explained. “His poster was on people’s walls for a reason as a player because he’s one of the hardest-practicing, hardest-playing people that’s ever played the game. Why would we think his team wouldn’t be the same?
“The utmost respect for Coach Sanders. He’s a football guy. The commercials and all those things, those are extra things you get to do when you’re elite at football. But I’m not surprised at all, everything he’s ever done at football he’s been successful at, and so he’s being successful here already.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, Colorado has opened as a slim favorite after a dramatic win and Nebraska’s season-opening loss. The two teams will also get the Week 2 spotlight for FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.