Colorado's Cormani McClain will be rewarded for trusting Coach Prime's process
Deion Sanders is without question a polarizing figure. You are either completely on board with Coach Prime or chances are pretty good, you’re very much not on board. There is very little grey area. Some love what he’s doing and there are those that don’t agree with how he’s doing it. Same with the hype and those who would wish it stopped.
One thing that should not be in question is how Coach Prime is handling his players. Buffs defensive back Cormani McClain is no exception to that idea.By February of this year, there was an understanding beginning to grow that despite anything else, Coach Prime will be able to put out on the field, not only two five-star CBs, but literally the best CB from 2021, and the best CB in 2022.
That is something most coaches won’t have. Every coach hopes to bring in great players, but to be able to put the top 2 CBs in the country (as prospects) out on an island creates very interesting matchups and schematics. However, four games passed before anyone saw Cormani on the field. When he was on the field, the skills that got him to 5-star status were on display. The vast majority of fans and viewers believed that was Cormani’s coronation.
That same majority believed they would begin to see more and more of McClain in games. The next week against Arizona State, Cormani was noticeably absent. Against Stanford, the now famous 29-0 collapse, he was noticeably absent again. Leading many to wonder, what is going on with Cormani?
In the last two weeks, there has been a surge of those with a platform to suggest Cormani is transfer portal bound. Prior to the USC game, Coach Prime was asked what is holding Cormani back? Coach Prime’s response was peak ‘Coach Prime’. The answer? “Cormani is.”
Coach would go on to shed some vague light on what the issue might be. He needs to: “study, prepare, be on time for meetings, show up to the dern meetings, understand what we’re doing as a scheme, WANT to play this game, desire to play this game, desire to be the best in this game, in practice, in the film room, and on your own free time”.
A large portion of the crop of Power Five players very likely could have reached that level on talent alone. Coach Prime understands that getting recruited is not the finish line. In addition, one could deduce that Cormani wasn’t ready from his teammates’ comments. Nothing disparaging was said by any teammate, but it was clear Cormani wasn’t ready, but he was working to become so.
The truly great thing about Deion Sanders as Coach Prime is that maybe above every other living person, Coach Prime knows what it takes to be more than a great prospect. He knows what it takes to be HIM. Quite frankly, up until now, Cormani McClain had not shown the level of dedication, study and preparation that Coach Prime knows is required to be the best and get the best result.
Therefore, until Cormani shows he can do those things above and beyond his personal talent level, he will not play. Further to the point, the previously believed ‘coronation’ was the result of thrusting Cormani into action out of necessity, not want. The view from the USC post-game press conference was that Sanders was pleasantly surprised by Cormani’s play, but he played because the team needed him to, not because he earned it.
In today’s social media and internet landscape, there is no way possible that Cormani did not hear about Prime’s comments. Keep in mind, Coach Prime is not new to this and he has mentioned at least twice that as a coach you have to know what each player’s button to push is.
After Prime’s first public Cormani statements, He did respond via social media. Cormani put out a cryptic post suggesting people would be surprised to learn what happens behind the scenes. That was the last public commentfrom Cormani since Prime has made comments about his lack of playing time.
While social media is a massive part of media coverage now, coaches and general managers at the next level do not love a player who constantly airs their grievances via social media. The fact that Cormani has been even in the last few weeks is not a coincidence.
The other very interesting thing that Coach Prime has that most other Power 5 coaches do not is a media machine. Being a fan of the CU Buffs football team is easy because of this media machine. Well Off Media and Reach the People do an incredible job giving fans access that you simply do not get from other big Power 5 programs.
Because of that, we can deduce one very important detail about the Cormani saga. Coach Prime’s message has been received and the player in question seems to be making the right choices and following through on what he said he needed to.
Anyone who watches Well Off Media should have noticed the day-to-day honor of breaking down the team in practice. In the first few weeks it was always a familiar name. Dylan Edwards, LeVonta Bentley, Jimmy Horn, sometimes a special teamer. While Prime does not believe in captains, this is a very ‘captain-like’ honor. Given to someone who practiced well and is a player to look to based on his performance in practice.
In the Well Off Media video following the break, Prime called out an unlikely name to close out practice. Last week before the bye week break, Coach Prime delivered a longer than normal message to his team about how to conduct themselves on the break. There was the typical “don’t do anything to affect your opportunity” message. But he went into detail about lifting, film study, and overall preparation.
At the conclusion of the first practice after the break, Coach Prime called out a name to break down the team that might have been the most unlikely for those outside the building. “CORMANI! Come on baby! Its all you this week! What do you got to say to your team, LETS GO!” -Coach Prime
Just like that, despite the portal narrative from the outside, Cormani McClain emerges from the circle. The post practice breakdown is in fact an honor. A small one, but an honor, nonetheless. After every practice, Coach picks a player (usually calling out his number, not his name) who had a great practice to break the team down. Almost as if to say, “Today, look to this teammate as the example for what a good, hard practice looks like”. On that day, the example to look to was Cormani McClain.
Let us not forget either, the message before the break was to be responsible for your opportunity. That message included, if you miss your transportation back and are late, your locker very well might be cleaned out.
Coach Prime might not be everyone’s favorite college football coach, but he is many people’s favorite college football coach. In large part because Coach Prime is doing more than coaching players to football victories. If that was all Coach Prime cared about, Cormani probably plays more than he has. Cormani is naturally gifted and could likely guard most top receivers in the college game admirably. But Coach Prime knows he will not get the best out of Cormani if Cormani is only relying on his talent.
Look at any Deion Sanders playing days highlights, most of his picks or key defensive stops were not based on talent alone. He studied and prepared to know exactly when he could jump a route. Coach tells a great story about moving the hotel room TV into the bathroom so he could soak his body and still watch film. He knows what is required. He is coaching these young men to be the best version of their athletic self.
One of the greatest traits of a coach, and a large reason why so many fans have come out of nowhere to become big Coach Prime fans is that he is not coaching young guys to be good football players, he is coaching guys into being productive men.
For Cormani that means doing the little things, the preparation things, as well as running and cuts. All indications from Coach Prime and Cormani McClain’s body language as well as actual spoken language suggests that Cormani is making the consistent change that Prime was hoping he would. Prime has not, nor should anyone expect he would, announce changes to playing time.
However, if Cormani plays or gets a significant number of snaps against UCLA, it should not be shocking. Coach Prime is executing a plan. He has stuck to that plan and its subsequent process. Coach Prime is more self-disciplined than most people can accept. Lesser coaches would’ve put Cormani in earlier out of fear of wasting his talent. Coach Prime is built differently. He knows what a five-star corner needs to be to maximize his ability.
The Cormani McClain situation should only confirm the idea that Coach Prime knows exactly what he’s doing. Nothing to be concerned about. Just trust the Coach Prime process. Even with five-star talent.