College Football Live - CFB LIVE - 7/28 - Prime Time News

Episode Date: July 28, 2025

Our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho and Roddy Jones discuss breaking news coming out of Colorado. Could head coach Deion Sanders be sidelined next season? ESPN's Rece Davis sits down with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian to discuss his health and expectations for his team going into the 2025 season. Is Texas and Arch Manning ready to take over the SEC? Find out that and more with College Football Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And we welcome you to college football live with Sam Macho and Roddy Jones. I'm Zubin Mahente. It was 19 days ago at Big 12 Media Days that Dion Sanders got up there in Dallas and essentially said, I'm not here to talk about myself or my health. I'm here to talk about my team. But in Boulder, earlier today, he did just that, announcing that he had been diagnosed and defeated bladder cancer. We're going to hear from Coach Prime and his doctor in just a moment. But we'll begin the 42-minute press conference, which we've condensed.

for you that everything you need to hear, starting with Lauren Askevold, who is the assistant athletic trainer at CU. So every year, coach goes for a CT scan of his vascular pattern to make sure you know the blood clots are away. So with this scan, everything turned out really great from the vascular side. About two weeks later, we get a text from his primary care doctor that said, I need to talk to you and coach. We need to refer you guys to a urologist.

So about three days later, we go see a urologist. They go in for a quick procedure. The neurologist told us, hey, within 10 minutes, I can tell you guys if he's going to need another procedure or if we just need to do these follow-up appointments. And the doctor told us, okay, you guys are going to need another procedure. I'm going to refer you to my colleague, Dr. Krakasia. But at this point, you have a bladder tumor.

Yeah, so we proceeded with removal. of the bladder tumor, it showed a very aggressive high... Let's go backwards because you guys gave me options that scared me to death. Oh, well, once we knew. We'll get there. I'll get there. Okay, I'm sorry. We removed the tumor.

It was very high grade invading through the bladder wall, not into the muscle layer, something we call very high-risk, non-musul invasive bladder cancer. So we did discuss options. We discussed some options of treatment in the bladder, and we discussed bladder removal as well. Given his commitments to his family and to the team, elected to undergo a bladder removal. We performed a full robot-assisted

laparoscopic bladder removal and creation of a new bladder, and I am pleased to report that the results from the surgery are that he is cured from the cancer. You could clap. It's okay, then. Wasn't easy. Men, everybody, get checked out. Because if it wasn't for me, get tested for something else,

they wouldn't have stumbled up on this. And make sure you go to the get the right care because without wonderful people like this, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today because it grew so expeditiously, I could say. But please get yourself checked out, especially African-American men. We don't like going to the doctors. We don't like nothing to do with the doctor. You know that. So I'm not just talking to the brothers.

I'm talking to my Caucasian brothers, my Hispanic brothers, my Asian brothers, everybody and my sisters. And that's all, y'all. Get checked out. If you see Port-a-Potty on the sideline, it's real. Okay, I'm just telling you right now, you're going to see it. You're going to see the practice. You're going to see one because it is unbelievable. But it has been a tremendous journey, and I'm truly thankful that God, God is so good. God is so good.

You have no idea. That was a 42-minute press conference today at the Dow Ward Athletic Center connected to Folson Field. It was a, you could hear a pin drop when he was talking. It was quite amazing. And I want to just say before, guys, we get into this, the ultimate Uber athlete gave credit to his medical staff by saying, quote, they were better at their game than I am at mine. I should also mention that his team was unaware any of this was happening until he told them right before this press conference at 1 p.m. Eastern time today. Sam, just get your thoughts on what Coach Prime has said,

and I couldn't help but notice with the seriousness. He did mix a little bit of levity in there as well. He talked about this idea of being a messenger, not only for the message of, hey, going to get checked out. He talked earlier on a post he made on social media about getting his writing a will and making sure that his life and his things were in order for his future, for his kids, for his grandkids.

And so the biggest thing I think about is, is number one, health. All the other stuff goes out the window. If you're not healthy, everything else is going to go out of the window. And so we love college football. We love the games. We love the studio. We love all the things.

But first and foremost, this idea of health. Secondly, what I heard from Coach Prime, we didn't clip this off, but we talked about this idea of faith and his family. He said football's on the list, but he said, man, my faith and my family are first. And so what he just did is point a clear picture as to one of the most important things in his life. No, he's not going to stop coaching. He actually did that procedure so we could continue to coach. this season. So yes, football's in there, but it's not the number one priority.

You're exactly right, Sam. There's so much more to coach prime to Dion Sanders than just what we have seen on the football field and what we see on the sidelines on Saturdays now. He sees himself as a vessel, a vessel to love, to spread joy, to spread happiness. And you could see that this was sobering for everyone in the room. This guy who was the peak of athletic prowess being almost. almost brought to tears by the fact that he was staring such a serious diagnosis in the face. I think it underscores exactly what Coach Brian was talking about. Early detection, so important, going and getting checked out, so important.

And we've heard this story for so many coaches. Steve Sarkesian had an incredibly dangerous heart condition uncovered due to a procedure, excuse me, a checkup that he had that Nick Saban made him go get when he was on staff at Alabama. Defensive coordinator at Pitt, Randy Bates had something similar. Pat Narduzi made his staff go get checkup. and they detected cancer, and Randy Bates was able to overcome it. So I think the message that he feels like he was put on this earth and put through this process to spread was one of early detection

and one of going and getting checked out and taking care of your health. Yeah, you mentioned Coach Sarkeesian. In fact, we're going to be hearing from him a little bit later in the program about that heart procedure that he had. So stay tuned for that. Sam, I want to ask you this. He went out of his way to say it had been such a confluence of its events. He saw his son fulfill a lifelong dream

get drafted into the National Football League to join his father, who was one of the best to ever do it. Then in that same period, he became a grandfather for the first time. And now we battled this. He mentioned that Randy Moss, our colleague at ESPN, that had overcome bile duck cancer, had been reaching out to him. What do you make of the fact that he was able to handle all of this?

And as Coach Prime himself said, not many people knew about it. He kept it very private, but he wanted to be able to get through it and not put an extra burden on anyone else, even though he was going through a procedure that if that cancer had metastasized, the survival rate would have been 10%. It's just a reminder that as much as we love to digitize and social media-lized life, life is full of ups and downs, of peaks and of valleys.

No matter if you're the highest pay or winning his coach or Hall of Famer, you still go through life's struggles and life's challenges. That's the first piece. The second piece is the reminder that we're all human. And so some people look at Coach Prime and they hate Coach Prime because of, look how proud he is or braggadocious he is. Or man, he thinks his son is this or that. Some people see the human side. And like he said, he's like, man, I got eight toes up here.

He said my calf looks like it's been bitten by a shark because all the different surgeries that he's had. And then now this. You talked about Steve Sarkeesian. People love to hate or sometimes people love to love. it's the idea that everyone that you see is going through something. And if they're not going through it right now, they're either on the other side of it, they just went through or they're going to go through something. So the reminder that he is and all these coaches and players, we love to criticize and even

elevate sometimes are human beings that go through hills and also go through the valleys. We often talk about how cancer touches families and how it can affect entire families. And Dionne Sanders wanted to make sure that that burden, was placed on as few people as possible. He said in his press conference, he didn't even tell Shador and Shiloh what he was going through. They found out earlier that day, or maybe during that press conference,

because he wanted them to worry about making the team. This is a man who wanted to shoulder everything for himself and his team wanted to keep it close. He said he's been through 14 surgeries in the last few seasons in the last few years, more than he ever had on the football field. So I think the strength of Coach Prime and the community around him that really supported him,

through this, it was on full display. And I want to emphasize what you said there, Roddy. That's 14 surgeries since 2021, and he marvelled at the fact that he had more surgeries after he played in the National Football League and Major League Baseball than during his career. Sam, I want to get your thoughts on this one statement. Somebody essentially said to him at the press conference, and we're going to take you to the scene and ask a reporter that was there, what it was like to be in that room coming up a little bit later in the show.

but somebody said to him, what did it feel like when you were staring death in the face? And he said, I got too much life to live to be scared of death. It's a reminder that when you live on purpose or live in purpose, nothing else matters. Even if you go through the biggest drug you could ever imagine or maybe things aren't going your way,

living on purpose is what this life is all about. He talked about his faith. He talked about his family. He talked about the reason that why went about this surgery in this way, in this fashion at this time was so he could continue to coach. There was never a thought of him not coaching again. And so when you find out what you're meant to do on this earth, do it. Be resolute.

And that's what Coach Prime has found out. It wasn't to go be in the Hall of Fame or be the best football player to ever live. No, it's this idea of coaching on purpose, pouring into young men's lives. And as he said himself, being a vessel and a messenger for hope. No question about it. I want you to take a look at the schedule. And as Dion said so Riley, and it elicited some chuckles, On August 29th, if Coach Prime is running up and down the sidelines,

he might have to avoid or evade that port-a-potty that he said would end up being there. An incredible comment there by Coach Prime. On the way, what was it like to be in that room in Boulder today? You can hear a pin drop as Dion unveiled some life-changing news. We'll take you there and accentuate the moment that Dion said he was never not thinking about coming back. And Reese takes a walk with Coach Sark.

The reason he takes a walk, what Roddy said. He overcame a huge health challenge of his own. That's when college football live continues. When you're flying Emirates business class, dining on a world-class menu at 40,000 feet, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates, fly better. Saturday, one of the great days of the year, the pro football Hall of Fray enshrinement. This year, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates, Sterling Sharp, and our old colleague, Eric Allen.

Coverage begins Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern time as those men become football immortals. Well, in his final year, as head coach of the Texas Longhorns as a member of the Big 12 conference, Steve Sarkeesian and Company won the league. And then in their first year in the SEC, they nearly won it. Texas is the only school in America that has made each of the last two editions of the college football playoff. And as we creep closer to the start of the season, Arrice Davis is visiting coaches,

the top ones around the country. And he begins his journey with a stroll, with Sark, on the 40 acres. Austin is buzzing. A lot is different in college football this year. One thing, though, that isn't Texas and the expectation. We don't have to ask, is Texas back?

Yes, they are back. You take a walk. every day. Yeah. When did you start doing that? I started taking walks in 2020 after that heart surgery at Alabama. Really it was because my doctor said, hey, you can't do strenuous activities, but you need to be active.

And then I got bored just walking around the field there, so I started getting out into Tuscaloosa. I started walking around Bryant-Daney. I started bringing other coaches with me. Everybody talked about meditation nowadays, right? I'd love to tell you, man, I meditate every morning. That's just not me. I can't do it.

But this is kind of therapeutic for me. I can come down from practice. I can clear my mind. I can get creative with some thoughts. It's been probably one of the best things I've ever done. Strip, punch from the back. What's the best idea you've ever had on the walk? I've changed practice plans on these walks.

I've decided guys who were going to start games on these walks. I've formulated play calls on third downs. One in particular, particular we had a trick play up in the big 12 championship game in 2023 and I said hey the first 32 or less we're calling it I don't care where we're out on the field that's what we're going to call here's some trickery it's a flea flicker and it works to perfection we throw a touchdown on a double reverse pass and and it hits so from that moment on it's like the walks like this like legendary on the walk is when things are going to happen we've made it maybe half mile or so and haven't asked

Manning yet and he's a super talented player gets a lot of attention what makes him suited to handle it I do think there's something about the mannings they have a very unique way of feeling normal as big as the brand is right as big as they are they have this unique way of getting into character when they need to be in character and stepping out of character when they don't need to be in character and focus on what they need to do they're obviously very family-oriented this isn't about how many eyeballs they can get on me. This isn't about how many commercials can I do, but yet they understand there are going to be eyeballs on him. It's just hard to ignore the number.

It's hard to ignore the name on the back. But it ends of Manning. There's a level of comfort in managing that I think for them that makes me feel good. I've seen all the pictures and videos of him when he was a little kid wearing a Texas Longhorn jersey. I want to go to Texas. So this guy's been dreaming about playing quarterback at Texas's whole life and we're a month away, you know, and here it is. And so I just want him to enjoy it. That'll do it. The Longhorn season will end at 13 and 3. You guys have been close. Yeah. We've been really close twice, step away from the national championship game. Is that something that gnaws at you? Is it something we came close? We play away here, play away there. I respect the game of football. It's a tough game and it takes so many

things to come together the right way to win a championship. And a ton of respect for Ohio State a year ago, they had a great team. A year before, Michael Pennix had a fantastic night. It was one of those games. What encourages me is to know we wouldn't have built ourselves into where we within the last two years if we weren't doing some things the right way. Would I love the confetti falling out of those two nights? Sure, of course I would.

But that's the life of a competitor, too. We put ourselves in those arenas. That was definitely a Nick Sabin thing for me. Like, whether we won or we lost, the next day we were going back to work. Let's just step far. Here we go. You appreciate the journey and the grind that each season gives you, and we're starting a new one this year. And I hope we're in the exact same position again this year.

Well, they'll be in the exact same position in the sense that they're going to take on the team that ended their season last year in the very first game. Texas, Ohio State, Saturday, August 30th. And, of course, Reese and the College Game Day guys are going to be there at the shoe. Speaking to Reese, next up on his tour, he's going to Arizona State to play ping pong and maybe a little top golf with Kenny Dillingham. That's tomorrow when Reese hits the desert. All right, so Reese kind of joked there. It took about a half a mile before he started talking about Arch Manning. Sam, I'm not going to wait that long because we're off the air here in nine minutes.

So give me your Arch Manning thoughts here. He talked about it's not just Arch, it's the Manning family ethos. And it's not just Arch, it's the Texas football team. If I'm Steve Sarkisian, I'm not going to put all the pressure on Arch Manning. I'm going to lean on my running backs. I'm going to lean on guys like C.J. Baxter who's coming off of injury, but he started as a true freshman. Lean on guys like Trey Wisner, who had over 1,000 rushing yards last year top three in the SEC. Arch Manning has had two years to learn what it's like to be the starter at Texas.

But Steve Sarkeesian is a brilliant offensive line. He understands that a quarterback's best friend is a running game. And, oh, by the way, you're replacing four starters on the offensive line. A new offensive lines best friend is a running game. And so lean on the running game and then you're going to give Arch's chances to use his legs as well as his huge cannon for an arm. And so Steve Sarkesian understands the assignment. It's not about winning Archer Heisman in week one. It's about getting him confident and comfortable as the season progresses.

And Roddy in the Big 12 when Texas was there from 1996 until 2023, they always alongside Oklahoma at a target on their back. and now in year two in the SEC, not much has really changed as far as that goes. No, not at all. I mean, you get to the championship game last year in your first year in the league. But I don't think it changes that much for Texas. I think if there's any brand in the country

that can have a manning at quarterback and a college football playoff back-to-back, college football playoff semi-final performances, and it's just business as usual. It's Texas. I mean, ask Sam, it doesn't matter whether you're 0-10 or 10-0. People love to throw them horns down.

People love to throw it in your feet. face. So I don't think it changes that much for Texas, even though there's a lot more, a lot more unknown, especially offensively. Sam mentioned the running backs, because that's all you know, four new starters on the offensive line, replacing your top three receivers. So Arch Manning is certainly the guy that we, that we hoped will live up to those expectations. But if they're going to be the hunter still, it's going to be the rest of the guys around them to pick up the slack of the departure. Mac Brown had a statement. He said, he said that the standard is the standard. And so when

you're at Texas, the standard isn't just going to the college football playoff and losing. The standard is going there and winning. And so people might be excited that Texas is the only team to go to two college football playoffs. But that's not good enough when it comes to the talent that you have, the coaching staff that you have, the fan base that you have, and also the target that you have on your back. It's not good enough for Texas just to make another college football playoff. The expectation from the players in that locker room and the fan base is for Texas to win.

That's why Archmanning came. That's why all the transfers that you've seen have come. That's what the players who have gone before expect. It's not just making it. It's winning. And that's the expectation this season. Number one is great early on. It's about number one when you finish.

That's right. And they haven't been able to finish, as Reese and Sark said. It's been close, very close. That last step still needs to happen. When we come back, more on our top story. The diagnosis and the defeating of bladder cancer. Dion slays a life-threatening illness. Next.

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Bring home to life. In Boulder, Colorado today, Dion Sanders announced he had been diagnosed and defeated bladder cancer. The latest in a run of ailments for the 57-year-old Colorado football coach. You may recall he actually had a couple of toes amputated and has some serious leg problems. It is already, I already have a new lifestyle. I got eight toes, man. Like I'm sitting up here talking to you with eight toes. Like, half of my legs are cut out like shark bites. So I'm already, I'm built for this, man. I'm built for this. Football, the decision I made in the surgery I chose was based on not just family, it was based on football.

Based on, I didn't want to be going weekly to the hospital. Why I know I got practices. So football is in there. In other words, Roddy, he never thought about not coaching. You saw the buffs a ton last year. What did you make of what he said with regards to just being around his team and remaining this team's coach? He loves being around his guys. It'll be a different experience for him this year

because he doesn't have his son, Shador, and Shiloh, on the team. He's hired a great staff around him, but nobody pours into his players on and off the field as much as Dion Sanders and Coach Brom. So I am thrilled that they'll have their coach back and he'll be able to coach again this year. There's no question about it. They do open their season against Georgia Tech,

August 29th, and Dionne went out of his way, even though the 42-minute press conference was largely about him and his health, He went out of his way to thank that other team, not his football team, but his medical team for essentially finding out about this and saving his life. That's the coach prime. See you tomorrow.