Coach Prime Notebook: "Please Come Out In Droves"
September 08, 2026 | Football
BOULDER — Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders opened his weekly press conference Tuesday with a scouting report on Weber State's head coach, a rundown of three Big 12 weekly honors and an update on the volleyball and soccer teams. Then he got to the item he most wanted to talk about.
He wants Folsom Field rocking on Saturday.
Colorado hosts Weber State at 1:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+) in its home opener, four days removed from a 14-13 win at Georgia Tech in which the Buffs scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes on the road — and, by Coach Prime's account, sounded like they were at home when they did it.
"We want our fans to come out in droves, as they did in Atlanta," Coach Prime said. "Hats off to Buff Nation. I really think we have the best fans in the country — knowing what transpired on the field last season, we had a lot of lackluster effort at times, but they showed up, man. They showed up in Atlanta and showed out. When we scored that last touchdown, it was almost like it was a home game. If you just heard the volume of that, it was unbelievable."
The plea that followed was direct.
"If we have tickets left, please sell this thing out so these kids can understand what I've been talking about forever and how wonderful this fan base is," he said. "Let's go."
The fan base will get its first home look at a roster that is almost entirely new, and at a team Coach Prime says is very much still under construction — with a first-year FCS head coach on the other sideline who has his full respect.
"A Flat-Out Winner"
Weber State's Eric Kjar is in his first college season after 17 years as a Utah high school head coach, the last nine at Corner Canyon, where his teams went 112-10 with six state championships. Coach Prime said he brought the number up in a staff meeting for a reason.
"I love him because, first of all, he's a flat-out winner, all those titles," Coach Prime said. "I had to throw (Coach Niblett) up there in the meeting the other day, because he's won so many high school championships. I had to throw Nib up there so we could offset that a little bit."
Tight ends coach Josh Niblett, whose Alabama and Georgia high school programs collected their own stack of titles, was the counterweight. But Coach Prime said the connection to Kjar runs deeper than trophies: Kjar coaches his own son, and Coach Prime knows what that looks like from the inside.
"Any man that is coaching his kids, I know it's tough," he said. "I know what he deals with. You watch your team, you watch your kid — you're a dad as well as a coach. My hat's off to him, man. He's doing a phenomenal job, well deserved, well overdue."
Kjar also coached CU quarterback Isaac Wilson at Corner Canyon. Coach Prime said that history will not be part of the game plan.
"We're not going to sit down and interrogate Isaac on his coach," he said. "We're going to watch tape. We evaluated. We already have. We gave a tremendous scouting report, we're ready, man. We're prepared."
Why the Wildcats will play hard
Coach Prime's expectation for Saturday is built on what he would be thinking if he were on the visiting bus.
"When you're playing a team of this level, those kids are playing us for a multitude of reasons," he said. "First of all, they want to prove that they can play. Second of all, they want to show you that they could play for you. And third of all, they're showcasing themselves for a multitude of Power Four, Power Five teams."
He put it more bluntly later.
"I know darn well, if I was on that team, I would come here and want to put on and show out, so that somebody could recognize me and notice me and maybe grab me out of the portal and pay me handsomely," Coach Prime said. "That's what I would be thinking if I was on that team. So I'm pretty sure there's certain guys thinking the same thing."
Three Weekly Honors
The Big 12 recognized three CU performances from Atlanta on Monday: Boo Carter as Special Teams Player of the Week, Lamont Lester Jr. as Defensive Player of the Week and the defensive line as the conference's Defensive Line of the Week. Coach Prime added a pair of distinctions of his own — that Chauncey Gooden was the only interior lineman in Division I to play both ways in the trenches in Week 1, and that Lester graded out as the top defensive lineman in the country by Pro Football Focus.
He was less surprised by the defensive line than the people asking about it.
"We always knew it was a strength," he said. " The whole team is new, so you can't say this is a strength and that isn't. You can't really have judgment, because you're not there every day. We are."
The offensive line, meanwhile, held Georgia Tech's pass rush off Julian Lewis and moved the line of scrimmage in the run game. Asked whether the group talks about the Joe Moore Award, Coach Prime shook it off.
"They just want to kick butt," he said. "They just want to prove that they can play this game at an extreme level and with consistency. I think we have a rotation of about eight guys that goes in there and plays, and they did a wonderful job."
The Fix List
Coach Prime named three areas he wants cleaned up before Saturday: the secondary giving up a few throws it shouldn't, the passing game as a whole and the third phase.
"Special teams need to be special," he said. "I don't know why we call them special teams and they're not special. We've got to be special."
He described the kick coverage breakdowns as a personnel issue, not a schematic one — and one that has already been addressed. The Thursday opener bought the staff two extra days to do it.
"You want to fix what was broken," Coach Prime said. "You want to fix the things that you weren't necessarily successful at doing. You want to call attention to some of the things that you need to really develop, or some of the players as well, and it just gives you an extra couple of days to do such, and we took full advantage of it."
Odds and Ends
Coach Prime said the 2027 class sits at 20 or 21 commitments, with another not yet announced. ... He named defensive linemen Samu Taumanupepe (anthropology) and receiver Hykeem Williams (sociology) his students of the week. ... He also ran through the department: volleyball unbeaten, soccer off to a strong start, cross country open in Wyoming, and tennis and both golf programs beginning their fall seasons next week.
He wants Folsom Field rocking on Saturday.
Colorado hosts Weber State at 1:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+) in its home opener, four days removed from a 14-13 win at Georgia Tech in which the Buffs scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes on the road — and, by Coach Prime's account, sounded like they were at home when they did it.
"We want our fans to come out in droves, as they did in Atlanta," Coach Prime said. "Hats off to Buff Nation. I really think we have the best fans in the country — knowing what transpired on the field last season, we had a lot of lackluster effort at times, but they showed up, man. They showed up in Atlanta and showed out. When we scored that last touchdown, it was almost like it was a home game. If you just heard the volume of that, it was unbelievable."
The plea that followed was direct.
"If we have tickets left, please sell this thing out so these kids can understand what I've been talking about forever and how wonderful this fan base is," he said. "Let's go."
The fan base will get its first home look at a roster that is almost entirely new, and at a team Coach Prime says is very much still under construction — with a first-year FCS head coach on the other sideline who has his full respect.
"A Flat-Out Winner"
Weber State's Eric Kjar is in his first college season after 17 years as a Utah high school head coach, the last nine at Corner Canyon, where his teams went 112-10 with six state championships. Coach Prime said he brought the number up in a staff meeting for a reason.
"I love him because, first of all, he's a flat-out winner, all those titles," Coach Prime said. "I had to throw (Coach Niblett) up there in the meeting the other day, because he's won so many high school championships. I had to throw Nib up there so we could offset that a little bit."
Tight ends coach Josh Niblett, whose Alabama and Georgia high school programs collected their own stack of titles, was the counterweight. But Coach Prime said the connection to Kjar runs deeper than trophies: Kjar coaches his own son, and Coach Prime knows what that looks like from the inside.
"Any man that is coaching his kids, I know it's tough," he said. "I know what he deals with. You watch your team, you watch your kid — you're a dad as well as a coach. My hat's off to him, man. He's doing a phenomenal job, well deserved, well overdue."
Kjar also coached CU quarterback Isaac Wilson at Corner Canyon. Coach Prime said that history will not be part of the game plan.
"We're not going to sit down and interrogate Isaac on his coach," he said. "We're going to watch tape. We evaluated. We already have. We gave a tremendous scouting report, we're ready, man. We're prepared."
Why the Wildcats will play hard
Coach Prime's expectation for Saturday is built on what he would be thinking if he were on the visiting bus.
"When you're playing a team of this level, those kids are playing us for a multitude of reasons," he said. "First of all, they want to prove that they can play. Second of all, they want to show you that they could play for you. And third of all, they're showcasing themselves for a multitude of Power Four, Power Five teams."
He put it more bluntly later.
"I know darn well, if I was on that team, I would come here and want to put on and show out, so that somebody could recognize me and notice me and maybe grab me out of the portal and pay me handsomely," Coach Prime said. "That's what I would be thinking if I was on that team. So I'm pretty sure there's certain guys thinking the same thing."
Three Weekly Honors
The Big 12 recognized three CU performances from Atlanta on Monday: Boo Carter as Special Teams Player of the Week, Lamont Lester Jr. as Defensive Player of the Week and the defensive line as the conference's Defensive Line of the Week. Coach Prime added a pair of distinctions of his own — that Chauncey Gooden was the only interior lineman in Division I to play both ways in the trenches in Week 1, and that Lester graded out as the top defensive lineman in the country by Pro Football Focus.
He was less surprised by the defensive line than the people asking about it.
"We always knew it was a strength," he said. " The whole team is new, so you can't say this is a strength and that isn't. You can't really have judgment, because you're not there every day. We are."
The offensive line, meanwhile, held Georgia Tech's pass rush off Julian Lewis and moved the line of scrimmage in the run game. Asked whether the group talks about the Joe Moore Award, Coach Prime shook it off.
"They just want to kick butt," he said. "They just want to prove that they can play this game at an extreme level and with consistency. I think we have a rotation of about eight guys that goes in there and plays, and they did a wonderful job."
The Fix List
Coach Prime named three areas he wants cleaned up before Saturday: the secondary giving up a few throws it shouldn't, the passing game as a whole and the third phase.
"Special teams need to be special," he said. "I don't know why we call them special teams and they're not special. We've got to be special."
He described the kick coverage breakdowns as a personnel issue, not a schematic one — and one that has already been addressed. The Thursday opener bought the staff two extra days to do it.
"You want to fix what was broken," Coach Prime said. "You want to fix the things that you weren't necessarily successful at doing. You want to call attention to some of the things that you need to really develop, or some of the players as well, and it just gives you an extra couple of days to do such, and we took full advantage of it."
Odds and Ends
Coach Prime said the 2027 class sits at 20 or 21 commitments, with another not yet announced. ... He named defensive linemen Samu Taumanupepe (anthropology) and receiver Hykeem Williams (sociology) his students of the week. ... He also ran through the department: volleyball unbeaten, soccer off to a strong start, cross country open in Wyoming, and tennis and both golf programs beginning their fall seasons next week.
Players Mentioned
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QB
/ FootballWednesday, September 09
Wednesday, September 09
Tuesday, September 08
Tuesday, September 08
