{"id":3369,"date":"2026-07-08T13:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3369"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:35:50","slug":"with-a-healthy-coach-prime-colorado-players-look-to-their-own-leadership-for-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3369","title":{"rendered":"With a healthy Coach Prime, Colorado players look to their own leadership for turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>FRISCO, Texas<\/strong> |  Colorado defensive back Ben Finneseth says he has seen Deion Sanders in the football building constantly this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Now that he feels the presence of his high-profile coach a year after Sanders was mostly gone in the spring and summer while undergoing treatment for bladder cancer, Finneseth figures it\u2019s time for the players to show some leadership.<\/p>\n<p>The sixth-year senior suggested that was lacking on the way to a 3-9 finish last season, which left the Buffaloes with a 16-21 record in three seasons under Sanders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing with last year was we just didn\u2019t have the players that wanted to lead and were willing to lead, and it starts with me,\u201d Finneseth said at Big 12 media days Tuesday. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel confident enough in myself. After getting this past year under my belt and gaining some confidence, knowing I can play at this level, it\u2019s significantly helped me.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe guys that stayed from this past season, it (irritated) us, the fact that there was no leadership. And we were like, \u2018This is not going to happen again.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sanders, who recently declared himself cancer-free and feeling like his old self, wasn\u2019t interested in revisiting his second losing season with the Buffs. But he nodded in agreement over Finneseth\u2019s notion of a player-led team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m loving everything I\u2019ve seen in the spring,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI\u2019m loving everything that we added. I\u2019m loving what we did in the portal. I\u2019m loving what we\u2019re doing recruiting-wise. We\u2019re right where we want to be. And we\u2019re going to get even better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tight end Zach Atkins, a Colorado newcomer a year ago after three seasons at Northwest Missouri State, didn\u2019t specifically call out the leadership from 2025. He went with the more generic notion of getting everybody on the same page, and addressed how that might happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it starts now,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cI think it starts with all the work that we\u2019ve put in since January. All the lifting days, all the conditioning days, all the player-led practices, all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Receiver Danny Scudero is new to the Buffs after spending last season at San Jose State and the previous two at Sacramento State of the FCS.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t take Sanders long to suggest that the Bay Area product could fill a leadership role immediately for a program that has experienced dramatic swings \u2014 both in season and between seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I can definitely be a guy that a lot of my teammates can count on and just being a consistent guy for them,\u201d Scudero said. \u201cBecause a lot of teams have a lot ups and downs, and in times of need you can look to a guy to kind of be a steady guy. I feel I can fit into that position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finneseth doesn\u2019t want to underestimate the presence of Sanders.<\/p>\n<p>When it was suggested that there would be proverbial chips on the shoulders of players but not on those of their highly decorated coach who is a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback, Finneseth shot back quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you say that he doesn\u2019t have a chip on his shoulder, he does,\u201d Finneseth said. \u201cBecause he\u2019s a competitor, and he\u2019s just as (irritated) as we are. Like I said, this is the most I\u2019ve ever seen him. He\u2019s probably sleeping in the facilities, if we\u2019re being completely honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the interest of team building, Finneseth said he and three newcomers \u2014 fellow defensive back Cree Thomas, defensive end Balansama Kamara and Scudero \u2014 pooled their money to buy a fishing boat for $400 on Facebook. (\u201cYeah, it\u2019s a canoe with a trolling motor, so it\u2019s not very good,\u201d Finneseth said.)<\/p>\n<p>The idea was to give guys a chance to catch a fish, or ride a horse, or a four-wheeler. Finneseth mentioned a trip to Sanders\u2019 ranch not far from Dallas, where he spent five of his 14 NFL seasons with the Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve just been taking guys out to do things they\u2019ve never done, and seeing the light in their eyes,\u201d Finneseth said. \u201cIt\u2019s like you can\u2019t take that away from someone. And showing them that you care enough to take them to do something like that \u2026 It\u2019s really a cool feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has Finneseth feeling better about the team\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3363\">Members of a sexual predator network on Telegram tried to hide their crimes with code words<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3365\">Iran and US trade fire and Trump calls the ceasefire into question<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3367\">Trump blasts NATO for rejecting his efforts to claim Greenland as leaders hold a summit in Turkey<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FRISCO, Texas | Colorado defensive back Ben Finneseth says he has seen Deion Sanders in the football building constantly this offseason. Now that he feels the presence of his high-profile coach a year after Sanders was mostly gone in the spring and summer while undergoing treatment for bladder cancer, Finneseth figures it\u2019s time for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1813],"tags":[5427,5428,3953],"class_list":["post-3369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","tag-ben-finneseth","tag-colorado-buffaloes","tag-deion-sanders"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>With a healthy Coach Prime, Colorado players look to their own leadership for turnaround - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3369\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With a healthy Coach Prime, Colorado players look to their own leadership for turnaround - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FRISCO, Texas | Colorado defensive back Ben Finneseth says he has seen Deion Sanders in the football building constantly this offseason. 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