Deion Sanders makes case that wins are more important than creating identity
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders made the case that winning is more important than creating an identity for your football team. The Buffaloes can’t necessarily hang their hat on one aspect of their game, as Sanders just wants to win, no matter what it looks like.
Perhaps the players buy into that approach as well, whether they win by passing or running or with stout defense and special teams. As long as they leave the home stadium or the raucous road environment with a victory, what does it matter?
“I don’t know coaches that seek identity. I think coaches seek wins,” Sanders said. “You could call it what you want. It looks the way it looks. I don’t care what kind of car we pull up in, as long as we pull out of here with a ‘W,’ I’m good. So I don’t really get into the identity thing, not whatsoever. I would like to do some things better. We like to stop the run. We’d like to run the ball.
“We’d like to be consistent offensively and defensively. We’d love to do those things better. But I can’t be narrowed down with ‘what’s your identity?’ What does that mean? What does that mean? ‘What’s your identity?’ I don’t even know what that means.”
Sanders used last year’s national champs as an example. What did Ohio State do best? Passing, running, defense, coaching? Likely all of it together when you look at their run in the CFP.
“Ohio State won the national championship, right, what do they hang the hat on,” Sanders said. “Running the football? But they had two, right? You can’t hang your hat on for two running backs, that’s not nothing to hang your hat on. Everybody got two running backs. They can kick your butt down the line …
“But, like, I understand what you’re trying to say, but winning is winning, man. It’s not one thing you can hang your hat on. I would love to say, we could do this, we could do that, but you know, you got to have consistency before you start opening your mouth and rambling it off like that.”
Colorado fell 36-20 to Houston last Friday and looks to bounce back against Wyoming at home on Saturday. Sanders likely doesn’t care how it looks, to some extent, so long as the Buffaloes get a win.
Right now, Colorado is 1-2 with losses to Georgia Tech and Houston, while beating Delaware. The Big 12 is full of randomness, but there aren’t many layups for Sanders and crew.
