Deion Sanders, Lincoln Riley trade praise ahead of USC's visit to Colorado
Things got pretty spicy between players and programs this past weekend when Colorado visited Oregon. Colorado players were seen and heard with some heated words toward the Oregon players before the game And Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had plenty to say about the Colorado program during and after the game. Heading into this weekend’s game in Boulder, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and USC head coach Lincoln Riley are getting off to a cordial start.
Sanders spoke highly of Riley during his press conference on Tuesday morning.
“First and foremost, I have the utmost respect and love and appreciation for the head coach,” Sanders said of Riley. “This is a bonafide winner.”
Sanders said he is a big Barry Switzer fan and spent time in Texas, which allowed him to get a good look at what Riley accomplished as head coach at Oklahoma.
“Watching his climb from there and what he did for that program, and then going out to California, what he’s doing for USC is commendable,” Sanders said. “I’ve got love, respect and appreciation for everything that he’s accomplished. He is one of the upper-tier coaches and I admire him tremendously, and his staff.”
Sanders received a ton of press this offseason — both positive and negative — for the wholesale changes he made to the Colorado roster via the transfer portal. Riley didn’t see the same number of transfers in and out in his first offseason at USC, but the path of taking a struggling program and drastically raising the level of play in the span of a few months is a similar story. Riley called Colorado’s roster rebuild is “more similar than it is different” to the one Riley embarked on after taking over the Trojans.
“Obviously the improvement’s drastic,” Riley said. “You’ve got to give their staff a lot of credit and you’ve got to give all the players that came in there a lot of credit.”
Both coaches also shared plenty of praise for the quarterback they’ll be looking to contain this Saturday at Folsom Field.
Top 10
- 1New
College Football Playoff
Projecting 12-team bracket
- 2
CFP Top 25 Prediction
Projecting Final Top 25, Field
- 3
Projecting AP Poll
Top 25 after Champ Weekend
- 4
Kalen DeBoer
Makes CFP pitch for Alabama
- 5Hot
Coaching Carousel Intel
PSU staff, South Carolina OC
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“He’s playing really well,” Riley said of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. “He’s a really good player, I think we all knew that coming in. They’ve done a nice job with their scheme. They’ve done a nice job surrounding him with some really good weapons. And he’s really just a terrific distributor and gets those skill guys the ball. They do it in a lot of very efficient and creative ways. He’s largely played very, very well this season.”
It’s never a surprise to hear an opposing coach speak highly of USC’s Caleb Williams. Every coach has done it this season and Sanders is no exception. Asked what stands out about Williams, Sanders didn’t have to choose.
“Everything,” he said. “The kid is a playmaker…He’s the epitome of class and confidence in what he brings to the table. He. Makes. Plays. He makes that team go. He is a handful.”
Sanders ranks No. 2 in the nation in passing yards per game with 352.5. Williams is No. 11 at 300 yards per game. Sanders is No. 5 in completion percentage nationally, at 76.9%. Williams is No. 11 there as well, at 74.3%. Sanders is responsible for 12 touchdowns this season (11 passing, one rushing). Williams is the nation’s leader with 18 (15 passing, three rushing).
