NFL Hall of Famer and current Colorado football coach Deion Sanders was scheduled to be a keynote speak at an event for The Foundation of Sickle Cell Disease Research. However, "Prime Time" was forced to bow out of the event due to a health issue.
According to a report by ESPN, Sanders has been out of the football office in Boulder as well due to the same issue. The report states that he is back in Texas dealing with an "unspecified health issue."
Summer football camps kicked off last week with the Buffaloes, but Sanders is nowhere to be found.
He has dealt with health scares before including blood clots that led to a pair of toes being amputated back in 2021. Sanders also missed a media event two years later with another blood clot that formed in his right leg.
While other reports are coming in that Sanders is improving, the closer we get to kickoff with him away from the team, the more likely we are to see a different figurehead lead Colorado out of the tunnel when they start the season August 29 in a big early season showdown against Georgia Tech.
Sanders has put together an all-star coaching staff with fellow former NFL standouts Marshall Faulk and Warren Sapp among those listed. However, there is a key figure that would make the most sense to step in on an interim basis.
That person is Pat Shurmur, who joined the Buffaloes in 2023 after two years away from coaching. He was hired as an offensive analyst and co-offensive coordinator before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2024.
Shurmur is a former NFL head coach and coordinator, having spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and Denver Broncos. He served as the head coach for 65 games, winning 19 of those.
Assistant coach Andre' Hart, who works with the linebackers, has been with Sanders for several years, including his time at Jackson State. Hart has a year of head coaching experience at the high school level in Texas.