Deion Sanders’ dream to be the trailblazer of a route-breaking spring game hit a sudden pause. The NCAA officially ruled out that idea after Syracuse coach Fran Brown agreed to Sanders’ proposal in an open invitation. The new format of the joint spring was scheduled on April 19 at Colorado’s home stadium. They, in fact, did all the paperwork for a live scrimmage for fans. The buzz got high, and the rest of the CFB world became quite on their toes to take notes from the legendary Coach Prime for the future. But the NCAA seemed to see things differently. But Coach Brown is sticking with the thought, fighting and rooting harder for their idea to make a stride shortly.
The spring game becomes one of the most tantalizing yet volatile off-season storylines this year. Thanks to the teams nixing the traditional practices, mostly due to the poaching exposure threat. However, Coach Prime, as the all-time visionary among his squads, views the scope differently. He neither wants to let the spring game concept die nor wants to play it in the same monotonous way. Sanders found a middle way to play a joint spring game and immediately received a nod from Syracuse head coach Fran Brown. There has been growing tension over the permission from the NCAA committee, which ultimately backfired. So, what went wrong? The FBS oversight committee blamed the denial on inappropriate timing, competitive advantage, and academic impacts.
However, they didn’t totally rule out a future conversation on the same. Following through on that slight ray of hope, the Orange head coach weighed in on their indomitable plan. Joining the Triple Option podcast alongside Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone, the Syracuse head coach said, “For a home and away deal, I want to go there this year and then they come to us next year, I think that just being in all reality. Prime has a bigger venue, right? He’s an icon. So, like Boulder will be packed with them. Being able to go there, so, you know, that would help us. It will help me learn some things from him, just about some of the stuff that they do overall. Because he’s doing a lot of stuff outside of it while we’re looking to do that.”
Deion Sanders has brought an unprecedented amount of attention to his programs over the last couple of years. It owes a lot to his brand value as well as the championship-caliber roster he has built over there. Very few coaches in the trenches can overlook the benefit of collaborating with the Buffs. Certainly, Coach Brown isn’t the one among them. Deion brought a whopping $54 million viewership in the 2024 season to his team, including $8 million in the Alamo Bowl (the highest in 32-year history). So, it’s palpable why Brown doesn’t want to miss the plan.
Sanders is equally vested in the idea, given that he is the one to propose it. The motive is bigger than you think. Having your players tested against the competitors would significantly match his NFL-driven vision. So, both the coaches aren’t giving up on the idea at all. “He said, next year, he will come here right then start to try to plan out other things and other people who we don’t have to play with that would benefit. It has to always benefit. It’s a lot involved in it that I want to do or why I want to go,” Coach Brown divulged on the plan more thoroughly.
It’s still up in the air when exactly (in which year) NCAA higher-ups give a clean chit to an innovative spring game, but even if they do, one Big 10 head coach won’t embrace it at all.
A major downside of Deion Sanders’ and Fran Brown’s bizarre Spring proposal
If you scratch your head thinking why the NCAA didn’t see a point in the joint spring game idea, Ryan Day has an apparent reason to convince you. The Ohio State coach, Ryan Day, points out the other side of the inter-team spring practices that many might overlook. It looks really fascinating to challenge the players and amp them up to play in a different circumstance and reap the benefits of a share’s viewership. The defending champions would rather choose to walk on a safer path.
“I’d be concerned about health,” Day said, per On3. “When you practice, there are certain rules of engagement that have to happen. When receivers are in the air, you know, we don’t take their legs out and do those types of things. I’d be very, very concerned with practicing against another team when the rules of engagement aren’t clear.”
That’s food for thought. But regardless of all the counters, Fran Brown isn’t in a place to let the NCAA get away with their verdict. He taunts the committee, saying they would let it happen if it were Bill Belichick instead of Coach Prime behind the appeal. The legitimacy of his dig is another debate altogether, but as far as their “never give up” spirit hints at, the joint spring game might not be far from reality!
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