BOULDER, Colo. — A cluster of fans stood outside Gate 14 at Folsom Field, beseeching the man in all-white coveralls to acknowledge them. The handful of admirers reaching their hands and phones through the black metal bars on this drizzly early August afternoon soon doubled then tripled in size. But Deion Sanders was in the throes of another moment cultivated for the social media universe.

On his 57th birthday, Colorado’s rhapsodic football coach was, as usual, flanked by in-house cameras. They rolled on as he was given a personalized black and gold 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with a dozen customized “Prime” logos placed all over.

It came from Truck Ranch, the dealership that also has provided vehicles to Sanders’ sons, quarterback Shedeur and safety Shilo, as part of the players’ Name, Image and Likeness deal with the company. As Sanders checked out his present, fans shouted “Happy birthday” and inquired about potential autographs and selfies.

The world knows Sanders as a marketing mogul who can sell anything and a superstar who dares detractors to continue to doubt him. But in Year 2 at Colorado, a celebrity persona both revered and reviled won’t be enough. Being the bombastic disruptor of college football’s status quo will resonate less in 2024 if the Buffaloes don’t produce tangible results. Coming off a 4-8 inaugural campaign, the Sanders era needs sizable steps forward to prove his roster-building approach — and his overall blueprint — works.

“We’re not really too concerned about what happened last year, because it is what it is,” Shedeur said. “You can’t change the past.”

No, but the past exists as an eternal reminder of what came before  — and last season that was eight losses in nine games. For Sanders, this promises to be his most demanding season as a head coach. It’s likely his last with Shedeur and Shilo (both seniors) and a return to the Big 12 brings a challenging slate. And while the Buffaloes bolstered their roster once more through the transfer portal, questions remain about whether Sanders’ aura-based approach can field a team that can contend beyond September.

True to form, he’s not conceding an inch. But his way is under the spotlight as skepticism compounded after last season’s defiant 3-0 start collapsed.

“If you want to be blessed,” Sanders told reporters earlier on his birthday, “someone is going to try and stress you.”

When the cameras stopped recording outside Gate 14, Sanders waved his left hand at his fans, thanking them for the birthday wishes and quickly ducked out of the sprinkling rain and on to the day’s next endeavor.

A father and his sons

The vault in his mind is filled to the brim with slights and, even more so, with retorts. So when someone comes at him — even if it’s one of his sons — Sanders is always ready. When Shilo teased him about turning 57, Sanders thanked him for his years of consistency on Aug. 9.

“I appreciate what you do every year on my birthday — nothing,” Sanders quipped.

As Sanders shuffled away from his news conference, he stopped at Shilo, hugged him, kissed him three times on the top of his head, and told him he loved him. The 2024 season likely will be the last time that Deion, Shedeur and Shilo are active members of the same team. Sanders has helped coach his sons from youth league to high school and two universities.

Shedeur is viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in college football this year, is mentioned as a Heisman Trophy contender and likely first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft. A year ago, he ranked eighth in the FBS in completion rate (69.3 percent) despite being the most-sacked quarterback in the nation (52).

Sanders’ priority in the offseason was obvious: build a front that can give his son ample time to hit the new and talented receivers. In addition, the Buffaloes needed to find a talented running back to complement Shedeur, who, too often a year ago, was throwing over 40 times per game. Colorado ranked dead last among FBS schools in rushing offense with just 68.9 yards per game and 2.3 yards per carry. There’s belief that Ohio State sophomore transfer Dallan Hayden can be that star sidekick to Colorado’s No. 2.

“He’s the best quarterback in college football,” said Hayden, who signed with the Buffaloes in April. “There’s no doubt.”

Shilo wears his dad’s famed No. 21 and patrols the secondary like his dad, albeit at a different backfield position.

Sanders has bucked the trend of obsessive college football coaches guarding behind-the-scenes content for fear of losing a competitive edge. And so much of what he shares on social media is his relationship with his sons. Behind the camera is his son Deion Jr., nicknamed “Bucky.” Recently, the three brothers unveiled a new podcast called “Overtime.”

They’ve joked about how their dad used to be cheap when giving them money to go to the mall or how he holds them to higher standards than he does anyone else. To hang with the Sanders crew, you must lean into your sense of humor, or you’ll be owned.

Their public personas have also inspired outsiders online to root for them to fail.

There have been allegations of preferential treatment from Sanders to his sons and two-way star Travis Hunter. Their teammates quell that notion publicly.

“They think it’s funny. They’re used to it,” said linebacker Trevor Woods, one of the few holdovers from the previous coaching regime. “Coach Prime has people who love him, but he’s got a lot of people who hate him. And it doesn’t affect them. Their film and plays made speak for itself. It’s always going to happen if you have someone’s kid on the team.”

Some developments can’t be ignored, no matter how much Sanders tries. In May, Shilo filed for bankruptcy in Colorado after it was revealed that he’s being sued for nearly $12 million for an alleged assault on a high school security guard when Shilo was a minor. In a detailed report from The Athletic in April, former Colorado players spoke on the record of the cutthroat nature of Sanders’ roster rebuild after inheriting a 1-11 team in 2022.

In response, Sanders and Shedeur trolled former players on social media.

They do not miss a shot to defend one another publicly, no matter how poorly it may be perceived.

“Everybody is kind of targeting you in a way,” Shedeur said about negative public perceptions. “Everyone just cares so much about what you do.”

“Going through criticism, that’s going to happen the more you level up,” Shilo said.

Deion has shot down theories that he will leave Colorado when Shedeur and Shilo turn pro. According to Sanders’ five-year, $29.5 million contract, he would owe the university $8 million if he ops to terminate his contract for another college or NFL job after Dec. 31, 2024. He has said in multiple interviews he intends to remain at Colorado after his sons move on.

Everybody is watching

Dayon Hayes was debating whether to board his flight to Los Angeles to visit USC when he realized he’d already found the place he wanted to be. The former Pittsburgh defensive end had upwards of 25 teams contact him when he entered the transfer portal, but it was his time spent with Deion and Shedeur on his official visit that swayed him from going to Southern California.

“It’s a lot of exposure,” said Hayes, a senior. “With Coach Prime, the kind of people you’re around, the kind of people you see, it’s only going to make you better. It’s everything I expected.”

Of the 115 players on Colorado’s 2024 roster, Hayes is one of 65 newcomers. A year ago, Sanders’ aggressive rebuild yielded 87 new faces. So he’s still building how he sees fit, and leaning into the promise players will be more prepared for the NFL than anywhere else in the country. Sanders shuffled his coaching staff this offseason, bringing in former Cincinnati Bengals secondary coach Robert Livingston as defensive coordinator. Former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur, who was installed as the main play caller midway through last year after former offensive coordinator Sean Lewis was stripped of his duties, was officially promoted in February.

“Everybody is watching. The attention is on them,” Hayes said. “Why not go somewhere where it’s only going to get better if you win?”

Like everyone else last year, players kept tabs on Colorado through TV or social media. The Buffaloes were the most-watched team in the country through mid-November — even after a 42-6 thumping at No. 10 Oregon and close, emotionally draining losses to No. 8 USC (48-41), Stanford (46-43 in triple overtime after Colorado led 29-0 at halftime), No. 16 Oregon State (26-19) and No. 21 Arizona (34-31). One non-Buffaloes player looking toward the West was former NC State receiver Terrell Timmons Jr. He opted to join a loaded receiving corps with Hunter, Jimmy Horn Jr., Omarion Miller, LaJohntay Wester and Will Sheppard.

“Coach Prime came in and knocked the door down on college football,” Timmons said. “That’s why he’s going to keep elevating.”

Behind his patented Blender shades, Sanders has vowed that not only are the wins coming, but also that he wants to be “a catalyst for the next person.” To those who are seeking something new, it’s obviously working. But top-heavy rosters rarely hold up throughout a grueling season. Woods believes there is a foundation to build upon in Year 2 with the amount of returning talent and additions on the offensive and defensive lines.

Center Hank Zilinskas is expected to be the lone returning starter from the maligned offensive line that Sanders vowed to upgrade. Colorado added five-star left tackle Jordan Seaton out of IMG Academy in Florida, who is counted on to start Day 1. Add in transfers such as right tackle Kahlil Benson (Indiana), guard Justin Mayers (UTEP), guard Tyler Johnson (Houston) and guard Yakiri Walker (UConn), and the Buffaloes believe they’re better equipped to protect Shedeur Sanders.

“We just will continue to build on the good we had last year,” Woods said. “The things and habits that were bad last year we got rid of. Things are changing.”

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders ranked eighth in the FBS in completion rate despite being the most-sacked quarterback in the nation. (Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)

‘You are who you are’

In an empty Nike store one mile from Folsom Field there remains zero doubt that Deion Sanders is the most famous person in Boulder. Forty-dollar black T-shirts featuring 1980s Deion — the Jheri curls, the massive black shades, the gold chains — hang on racks. Nike’s revitalized Air DT Max shoes, Deion’s signature sneaker from the 1990s, are prominently displayed.

Sanders swept Colorado fans off their feet because he rescued them from irrelevancy. Nobody was paying attention to awful season after awful season. It’s why he has a burger bowl named after him at a 100-year-old restaurant in town. Twenty percent of total merchandising sales last fiscal year were “Coach Prime” products, a school spokesperson said.

A year ago, the university leaned into “The Prime Effect,” which covered the massive influx in merchandising sales, season ticket sales, social media impressions, eyeballs on the TV and more. And for a second straight year, season tickets have sold out. The Big 12 home games against Baylor and Cincinnati are sold out, according to a university spokesperson.

A former assistant coach portrayed the dubious position in which the football program finds itself. Former special teams coach Trevor Reilly, a graduate assistant with Sanders at Jackson State, recently resigned during preseason camp after voicing his displeasure with the condition of Colorado’s name, image and likeness funding. In interviews, Reilly said he voluntarily spent last offseason in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East in search of deepening the NIL well in Boulder. The university and its collective has since said Reilly acted alone in his endeavors.

Under Sanders, Colorado certainly does not lack distractions.

Beyond those, the first three weeks could be telling. Colorado draws nine-time FCS national champion North Dakota State in its opener on Thursday, before back-to-back road rivalry games at Nebraska and Colorado State. The Buffaloes won those games last September. There are no games guaranteed to be stashed as wins this season as Colorado aims to qualify for a third bowl game appearance since 2007. The final three weeks of the season are as taxing as anyone’s in the conference this year, too: vs. No. 12 Utah, at No. 22 Kansas and at home vs. No. 17 Oklahoma State.

The Deion experience, it appears, also comes with necessary adherence to Sanders’ way. Attend a Colorado news conference, and Sanders waits for the reporter to introduce their outlet before he indicates approval or the alternative. There is a unique clause in his Colorado contract that designates he must have “professional and consistent interaction with mutually agreed upon members of the media.”

At Colorado’s media day, he challenged questions about the upgrades to the offensive line, but was all smiles when asked about his sponsored affiliation with Aflac. After an awkward interaction with Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler went viral, Colorado announced two weeks later that Keeler would not be permitted to ask Sanders questions at news conferences this season, citing “personal attacks.”

Sanders has long kept a blank canvas at the ready to paint broadly that he is the subject of most everyone’s ire. That people, however many they are, hope he falls flat on his face. And in that sense, he isn’t wrong. Sanders is not for everyone. It’s always been that way, because he’s always been himself: the high-stepping cornerback dancing into the end zone untouched who understood that words can have a bigger impact than even action on the field.

“You are who you are,” Sanders said to a Denver-based CBS reporter from whom he declined to take questions. Sanders later apologized at a post-practice media availability, saying he “loved” the reporter and offered a 1-on-1 interview with him.

This season, what matters most is if he’s a coach who can win more than four games at Colorado after promising the world.

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)