Nearly a year after undergoing surgery for bladder cancer, Colorado Buffaloes head coach and former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders has delivered an encouraging update regarding his recovery.

During an interview with the Associated Press, the Pro Football Hall of Famer shared that he is feeling like his old self again. He declared himself cancer-free following an advanced robotic procedure called a radical cystectomy that reconstructed his bladder using part of his intestine.

“I was fighting," Sanders said, per Arnie Melendrez Stapleton of the Associated Press. “I was walking out on the property with a bag of blood and also urine, and trying to get back. But this expedited the process. Last year at this time, I was in a whole different place, and I’m just thankful.”

Coach Prime got a firsthand look at the Intuitive da Vinci robotic system that was used in his operation, a technology praised for avoiding long hospital stays and being significantly less invasive than open surgeries.

Sanders added that the timely surgery helped him get back to his game quickly, ultimately calling the robotic system his "time machine."

"I’d be a fool to be blessed the way I was blessed and not sound alarms...Saved me time so I could get back on the field, get back on my game instead of sitting up there in the hospital having a pity party," Sanders said, per the Associated Press.

Coach Prime has previously dealt with health issues that involved blood clots in his leg, for which he underwent emergency surgery in June 2023.

During a routine checkup for his leg issues, a CT scan showed a mass on Sanders' bladder, which had a 50% chance of recurrence or progression after necessary treatments.

Sanders took a break from his role as Colorado head coach after his cancer diagnosis in July 2025 and returned to the sideline following his successful surgery.

Although Sanders has won his biggest battle off the field, he faces a challenge to deliver and prove that the Buffaloes can bounce back from a disappointing 3- 9 campaign in 2025, which affected his coaching ranking for the 2026 season.

Sanders slips to No. 54 in the latest college football coach rankings

Bill Bender of The Sporting News published his comprehensive evaluation of all 138 FBS college football coaches on June 10. In the breakdown, Coach Prime dropped to No. 54 overall in the country, a significant tumble from his No. 39 position the previous year.

"SN looks at a coach's overall record, record at the current school, and a three-year record to gauge that ranking," Bill Bender wrote in the same article. "Of course, career accomplishments, program expectations, and the 'this guy vs. this guy' arguments come into play, too."

The Buffaloes struggled offensively after allowing 38 sacks, ranking No. 125 in the nation, while their defense ranked No. 134 in run defense, allowing 217.25 yards per game.

Bender also considered last year's record as the baseline for such rankings, and that explains Sanders' drop, as he had his worst season in his three-year coaching stint with the Buffaloes.

Sanders now has a chance to reverse last year's record after the Buffaloes' offseason overhaul. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore