Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders ended months of near-silence by strolling into Big 12 Media Days at the Dallas Cowboys’ Star complex on Wednesday—last on the docket, but first to draw every camera in the building. Flanked by old teammate Michael Irvin and Colorado athletic director Rick George, the 57-year-old head coach greeted reporters with a grin and his trademark flourish: “I’m looking good, I’m living lovely.” Then he set the ground rules: no health talk, only football.

Behind the bravado sits a real concern. Sanders revealed in May that an unspecified medical issue cost him 14 pounds and kept him largely at his Canton, Texas, ranch; Wednesday was the first time quarterback Kaidon Salter or any Buffalo had seen him in person since the April 19 spring game. Yet players say his presence—often delivered via FaceTime from “Snow’s Playground,” his grandson’s backyard jungle gym—never really left. “He’s an energy giver,” star left tackle Jordan Seaton said, showing off an unreleased pair of Coach Prime Nikes as proof that family ties (and sneaker hookups) remain intact.

Sanders returns to a roster that bears little resemblance to the one that went 9-4 last season. With Heisman winner Travis Hunter and record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders now in the NFL, Colorado’s offense will hinge on a spirited battle between Liberty transfer Salter and blue-chip freshman Julian Lewis. Sanders raved about both—“we can’t lose either way”—and declared his rebuilt receiving corps “unbelievable.” First-year strength coach Andreu Swasey, the longtime Miami Hurricanes trainer, has handled summer workouts while Sanders recuperated, fueling buy-in with workouts players say actually make sense.

The coach’s brief media cameo doubled as a policy stump speech. He thanked fellow Big 12 coaches for checking on him, saluted commissioner Brett Yormark as “the best in the country,” and—never one to miss a promotional beat—teased Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire about the Red Raiders’ NIL-supercharged payroll. Sanders called for an NCAA-wide salary cap, ridiculed the trend of players wearing thigh-high pants without knee pads, and served notice that he will be back in Boulder before preseason camp opens later this month. Colorado’s most scrutinized figure may have spent the summer offstage, but Wednesday proved the spotlight still fits him perfectly—and he’s eager to direct it toward a Buffs program he insists is ready for another makeover.