Again, University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders comes under fire for the actions of others.
Deion Sanders Endures Salary Extension Slings and Arrows
When Colorada inked Deion Sanders to an extension, you’d think that would generate celebration. Instead of bailing Boulder for the National Football League, the coach looks locked into continuing his job at Colorado. On Sunday morning, podcast hosts Blake Ruffino and Joe DeLeone of the Ruffino and Joe Show decided to wade into contract waters.
Unfortunately, the former floundered while the latter skillfully navigated the issue without much of a problem. The podcast illustrated two aspects of the debate: first, why context matters to any contractual discussion, and second, how personal belief and bias tend to shade perception, often with deleterious effects on an argument.
Sanders changed the culture in Colorado and brought sunshine to a failing program. The Buffaloes have had just seven winning seasons since 2000, and Sanders had one of those during his first two years at the school.
That number equals the total for Karl Dorrell, Mike Sanford, Mel Tucker, Mike McIntyre, Jon Embree, and Dan Hawkins, the coaches who preceded him. Moreover, DeLeone fully grasped Coach Sanders’s impact on the school.
“The attention he has drawn for Colorado=Boulder has increased—20 percent increase in applications. A diverse application pool went to the University of Colorado. That the impact,” DeLeone said.
DeLeone makes the case with surgical precision. Coach Sanders and his brand drew people to the university, not just football players but regular students. The football coach undertook his enrollment drive in an era where enrollment threatened colleges.
Ruffino interjects and offers a rebuttal to DeLeone’s thoughts.
“Deion still got some things that he needs to prove to me. That brand exposure and all of that is excellent. I agree with you. They’re making the money. You’re also confirming that means just as much as on-the-field success.”
Suppose you poll most athletic departments and ask them whether they would instead field a winning football program or reap serious financial windfalls via sponsorships and exposure. In that case, they will trade the wins for the cash.
Ruffino continues, going as far as to say that branding is delicate, but for someone who “hasn’t won the conference,” and “making him a top five. The highest-paid head coach is a bit much.”
That argument flies in the face of his entire reasoning from (10:32-10:42). If the host’s job is to break down what happens on the field, why are they discussing the salary? Bill Belichick will take home ten million dollars from the University of North Carolina this season.
Where is the uproar about that salary? Belichick’s first college game as a head coach will be his last. If you judge a coach by what he accomplished on the college sidelines, Sanders greatly outachieved Belichick in the college game.
KEEP READING: Colorado’s Deal Blocks Deion Sanders From CFB Rival Amid NFL Rumors
Deion Sanders, through hard work, brand awareness, and recruitment, made Colorado a national story. Not since Kordell Stewart found Michael Westbrook against Michigan has anyone cared that much about the school. College coaches make an extraordinary amount of money.
Nothing should matter if the focus is purported to be what happens inside the white lines. As a result, salaries also bear little to no meaning in the big picture. Unless you’re a paying student, the state of Colorado, or the numerous companies Sanders endorses, how much money he makes isn’t our issue and should never be our problem.
Coach Sanders got to Boulder his own way. When he was hired, the school didn’t seem sure how they’d pay his salary. Now, the school is flush with money, and that remains thanks to its football coach. While football is a game played on turf and grass, everything else inside its orbit does matter.
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