National Analyst Shares Support For Deion Sanders' Joint Spring Football Game Proposal

College football analyst and former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Joel Klatt shared his support for coach Deion Sanders' wish of practicing and scrimmaging against another team in the spring. Colorado and Syracuse are reportedly seeking clearance from the NCAA to meet this spring.

Apr 24, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; NFL Network analyst Joel Klatt speaks to the media at the Play Football Prospect Clinic at The Corner Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt became the latest figure to show their support for Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders' proposal of practicing and scrimmaging against another team in the spring.

During a recent episode of his podcast "The Joel Klatt Show," Klatt spoke on Sanders' revolutionary idea, which has already some garnered considerable momentum. Colorado and Syracuse have even submitted paperwork with the NCAA to make the idea become reality this spring, according to Syracuse.com's Javon Edwards.

Nov 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders runs onto the field before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

"Deion is exactly right here," said Klatt, a former quarterback at Colorado. "This is something that we used to talk about as players. . . . We got so sick and tired of just practicing against ourselves. We always thought to ourselves, just let us practice against Wyoming or Colorado State or anybody. Let us go practice against them."

When proposing the idea during a press conference earlier this month, "Coach Prime" also mentioned how monotonous spring camp can become. Spring games offer some excitement, but many notable programs have decided to either cancel or modify their spring game this year, ultimately hurting college football fans.

"I would like to play against another team in the spring," Sanders said. "To have a competitive (spring) playing against your own guys kind of gets monotonous, and you really can't tell the level of your guys because it's the same old, same old. Everybody kind of knows each other toward the end. I would like to style it like the pros. I would like to practice against someone for a few days and then you have a spring game. I think the public will be satisfied with that tremendously."

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Although it's unlikely the NCAA will allow coach Fran Brown and the Syracuse Orange to visit Colorado this spring due to current rules, Klatt believes the idea has promise. He did note, however, that countless hurdles would have to be cleared first.

"Could this work? Is there a way that this could work? I don't know," Klatt said. "Of all the things that are trying to get thrown out there in college football, this one seems like, can we do that? It seems a little bit more far-fetched, but hopefully it's not."

"I would like to style it like the pros." 👀@joelklatt responds to @DeionSanders' wishes to play another team in the spring game. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/YJVJCJKWp1

— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) March 24, 2025

Klatt later pointed out a few valid concerns that may sway certain coaches from implementing the idea in future years.

"If you were playing devil's advocate, you would say the last thing I want to do is create real action for starters that would lead to injury in the spring," Klatt said. "Injuries would happen if you're gonna bring other teams in and you're gonna practice against them, so you'd have to be ok with that, which a lot of coaches would not be."

"For the next reason, you don't generally have great numbers from a health perspective anyway... (If) you bring another team in and you look bad, you really think you wouldn't be evaluated on that? Maybe you wouldn't get hired and fired based on that, but everything counts when it comes to sentiment with your fan base," continued Klatt.

As things currently stand, Colorado's intrasquad spring game is scheduled for April 19 on ESPN2.

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