As NFL Mock Drafts begin to heat up and fans eagerly debate which players their team should draft, it often gets forgotten that only 1.6% of college football players are drafted into the NFL. Of those drafted players only 30% of them make it on an active NFL roster.
This is not lost on Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, whose demands for players to excel on and off the field have led to success in the classroom for his Colorado Buffaloes football team.
Colorado Football Sets GPA Record Under Coach Prime
For the first time in Colorado football program history, the team has an average GPA of over 3.0. The news was met with high praise for the program’s players and acts as another example of the impact Coach Prime has made on the program.
For the first time in CU Football history our team gpa was over a 3.0! #team #buffs #coachprime
— James Chaney (@coachchaney96) January 14, 2025
Sanders’ impact at Colorado University needs no introduction, taking an abysmal 1-11 team to a respectable 7-2 conference record and an Alamo Bowl appearance. However, Sander’s demands for excellence from players also apply to the classroom.
In April 2024, Sanders chastised the team’s players for not showing effort in their classes after receiving a letter from a university professor. He equated their lack of effort in class to being on the field during a game but not doing anything to help the team win.
Coach Prime further emphasized the importance of players putting effort into their education by saying that the same players who were doing poorly academically did not have a draft grade.
“You are going to get something out of this; you are either going to be a man or a great football player. Since you choose not to be a great football player we got to make you a man.” Coach Prime stated to the team.
The message was clearly received, as shown by Travis Hunter’s selection to the first-team Academic All-American in 2023 with a 3.6 GPA.
The Buffaloes’ improvement in both the regular season and in encouraging academic success under Deion’s leadership is further testament to Sander’s successful tenure at Colorado University.
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