Why you should be a fan of Deion if you're a fan of the Big 12

Coach Prime is good for business.

Brought to you by Visit Stillwater.

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(Jenni Carlson)

LAS VEGAS — Deion Sanders climbed the stairs of the big stage at Big 12 football media days, wearing his signature Prime hoodie and dark sunglasses, and you almost expected trumpets and confetti to herald his arrival.

Every other coach in the conference would've been fine with it, too.

The second day of Big 12 media days was all about Coach Prime. He had a flock of reporters following him around Allegiant Stadium from the time he arrived Wednesday morning until he made his exit seven or so hours later. But the truth is, he was the talk of media days even when he wasn't there.

And no matter when his coaching counterparts were asked, they were effusive with their praise of Prime.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham: "Coach Sanders has done a great job of infusing excitement and talent into that program. Essentially, he's put Colorado football back on the map."

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire: "Man, I love Deion. I always tell everybody, I coached Bucky (Deion Jr.), his oldest son, in high school. He's honestly the best dad of a player that I've ever had.

"But what he brings, he's who he is. He doesn't make any excuses, and he doesn't take anything back. He's going to say what he believes in and

say what he thinks. He brings a lot of excitement."

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy: "I think we're lucky in our league that he's with us because he brings more people and notoriety and viewers to the Big 12 Conference, and that's what makes it go. We need viewership. We want people to watch our teams play."

That's the thing with Deion. You may not like his methods, forcing out a bunch of players, then bringing in a bunch of transfer-portal replacements. You may not like his style; as McGuire said, Sanders is unabashed in saying what he believes. You may not like that he and his teams get headlines (and Saturday game times) that sometimes far outpace what their performance would indicate they deserve.

But if your favorite team is in the Big 12, you need to embrace Deion as his coaching counterparts have.

Why?

Because getting eyeballs on football is the name of the game.

In this era of college sports, what a conference can demand for all things football is paramount. It drives broadcast deals and draws corporate sponsors.

Logos on fields and uniforms? Conference naming rights? Private-equity involvement? You might not like those ideas, but they could be big paydays for the Big 12.

And having Deion makes it more palatable for big-money players to spend big money. They know if he's involved, their brand will get exposure.

The Big 12 needs as much of that cache as it can muster.

I know, I know, the league is in a way better spot than it was three years ago. More teams. More stability.

It even caused Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark to boast a bit during his state-of-the-league address to open media days.

"There has never been a better time than right now to be part of the Big 12,” he said. “All eyes are now on the Big 12 for all the right reasons, and I think it's safe to say we're more relevant now than ever before. 

"We added the four corners and solidified ourselves as one of the top three conferences in America."

He's not wrong. The Big 12 is in the top three, having helped lead to the demise of the Pac-12 and found stability that far exceeds the ever-bickering ACC.

Still, the Big 12 ranks behind the SEC and the Big Ten, and it's not particularly close in terms of revenue distribution, the metric that trumps all in college athletics. And the gulf between the SEC/Big Ten and everyone else only seems to be growing.

So, is being in the top three enough for the Big 12?

It needs more.

Deion Sanders is more.

Even though he became the first Power Four football coach to wear sunglasses inside at media days, he quickly removed them after sitting down on the big stage and immediately began praising his new conference counterparts.

"I think we have the best commissioner in football," Sanders said of Yormark. "He's unbelievable. He's absolutely a legend. He's a baller. He's a shot caller."

(No word on whether Yormark has 20-inch blades on the Impala."

"Much love to Gus, Coach Malzahn at UCF," Sanders continued. "Just ran across him. I'm just highlighting a couple of the coaches because they've been so kind, they've been so considerate and so wonderful to me. And he recruited Shedeur out of high school. I remember going there in Auburn. He's been the same, consistent man since. He's

phenomenal.

"Coach Gundy is a dern legend. Being at the Big 12 meetings and getting a chance to meet a multitude of these head coaches that have just

welcomed me with open arms, they have been

phenomenal.

"And Joey McGuire, my son Junior, he played for Coach McGuire in high school. And Joey has been the same consistent, great coach that he's always been."

Talk about a lovefest.

I know Deion is not everyone's cup of tea, but in this era of college sports, his presence is a present for the Big 12. Mutual admiration is way more preferable than mutual assured destruction.