No passion: Deion Sanders reacts to notion of Colorado playing for 'pride' against Utah

Colorado started the season with three wins, but they have dropped seven of their last eight games. Colorado’s four-win season is an improvement from the 2022 team. But the situation in 2022 doesn’t matter much to the national audience after Sanders torched that team, brought in his own players in the quick-fix transfer portal era and proclaimed himself the best coach in college football this September.

No pride: Deion Sanders just wants to find a way to win

Sanders was asked at Tuesday’s press conference if the Buffaloes team would play for pride against Utah. Per a video posted by Mat Smith, Sanders said he wasn’t sure if Colorado was playing for pride this week. In fact, in a bizarre response, Sanders said the team might not bring the same passion they had at the beginning of the season.

“I don’t know about pride. You got to play to win. You got to play to the best of your ability,” Sanders said. “You got to play because this is the life you chose. Nobody’s forcing you to go out there to play. You got to want this.

"You may not have the same amount of hand claps that you had at the beginning. You may not have the same amount of noise and the same amount of fans or the same amount of passion. But you got to figure this thing out, and you got to play.”

No passion, no pride. Kind of a weird answer for the first-year coach who needs to promote his brand for the 2024 recruiting class. After threatening to replace his offensive line earlier this season, Sanders lost his only offensive line commit this past weekend.

Sanders needs Colorado to play with more fire than his expectations this week if he wants to attract winning talent.