September’s intrastate matchup between Colorado and Colorado State really did get personal between coaches Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell.
The tensions began when Norvell said on his radio show that he took off his sunglasses and hat when he talked to players and the media. That was widely perceived as a jab at Sanders, who regularly sports those items on the sideline and during interviews.
Sanders used those remarks to motivate his team, saying Norvell made the game “personal.”
However, Sanders apparently took Norvell’s remarks more personally than his players. A clip from Amazon’s Coach Prime docuseries shows what he and Norvell said to each other during the postgame handshake following Colorado’s 43–35 comeback victory.
Shedeur Sanders told his father not to put his hands on Norvell, indicating that there were some hard feelings expressed while leading up to the game. Norvell tried to settle the situation by telling the Colorado coach that his remarks weren’t referring to his family. However, Deion Sanders took exception to Norvell’s explanation.
Episode 3 of “Coach Prime” reveals the interaction between Coach Prime and Jay Norvell on the field after Norvell infamously said:
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 14, 2023
“When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.” pic.twitter.com/3RRa4VeIgW
“Oh, you was talking about my mama, dog,” Sanders responded. Norvell denied that, but Sanders didn’t back down.
“Yes, you were,” he said. “You were. You were.”
Norvell walked away, presumably realizing that wasn’t the place for such an argument. However, the coach’s wife, Kim, indicated there was a bit more to the confrontation that either wasn’t captured on camera or shown in the video clip in a now-deleted message posted to X (formerly Twitter).
If this rivalry didn’t have a ton of national attention before, it certainly does now. Next year’s game between the Buffaloes and Rams already has some spice to it.