Note: Welcome to a new feature on the Hotline, a weekly column on the college football media space in which we’ll address the latest news, issues, controversies and rating, plus the top matchups of the week.
In the five days since Colorado announced that no members of its football program would take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler due to his “sustained, personal attacks” on coach Deion Sanders, two things have become apparent:
— Each successive off-the-field issue that reflects poorly on the athletic department — and there have been a barrage of them — raises the stakes for Sanders on the field. The school and its constituents will tolerate shenanigans for only so long without success. If the Buffaloes aren’t bowl-eligible this season, Sanders will lose measurable support.
— Everyone has an opinion on the latest matter, which CU made public last week with a statement to the Denver Post explaining the Keeler blackout.
Although unusual, it’s not unprecedented for college coaches to refuse to engage with specific media members for stretches of time. But CU’s decision was somewhat extreme in that it banned every member of the program from speaking to Keeler, who has called Sanders a “false prophet,” “the Bruce Lee of B.S.” and “deposition Deion” over the course of time. And because it’s Sanders, everything is magnified, including the reaction.
Our view? Sanders needs thicker skin.
For all his high-minded talk about mentoring young men, Sanders is teaching the wrong lesson here. The backup left guard cannot speak to a media member because of what was written about a 57-year-old coach making roughly $6 million per year? The message seems to be: Instead of standing tall against criticism, it’s fine to run and hide.
After all, Keeler is a columnist. His words are his opinion. That Sanders, an American sports icon, would be bothered by the opinion of a single sportswriter is, frankly, baffling. That CU would back the decision is not — the university long ago relinquished its heart and soul to Sanders, for better or worse.
The Hotline sought as much context on the situation as we could find. It came courtesy of an unlikely source: Colorado State.
It seems CU’s neighbor to the north has much less of everything than the Buffaloes (money, football tradition, academic reputation, etc.), save for one important quality: skin thickness.
The Rams had a similar experience with Keeler a few years ago. Like any good columnist, and Keeler is a superb columnist, he calls ’em like he sees ’em. Equal opportunity criticism, or praise.
When CSU’s football program struggled in the second year of the Steve Addazio regime back in 2021, Keeler pulled zero punches.
— After a loss to Boise State in which Addazio coached part of the game from the press box because of an injury, Keeler wrote:
” Maybe Steve Addazio needs to try coaching the rest of the season by Zoom. From Cape Cod. Hey, it’s a small sample size, we’ll grant you. But isn’t it funny? The farther the Daz was from his CSU football players on Saturday night, the leaner, meaner and better the Rams generally looked.”
— After poor clock management kneecapped the Rams in a loss to Utah State, Keeler wrote:
“Dazfoonery. Absolute insanity. A clown show in cleats. (Vic) Fangio, the besieged Broncos coach, uses timeouts in crunch time the way a toddler uses a plate of spaghetti. But compared to Addazio, Uncle Vic is the second coming of Bill Walsh.”
— And after a loss to Nevada, Keeler wrote:
“Addazio is stealing money. You know it. Your neighbor knows it. Based on the crowds at Canvas Stadium, CSU Rams fans know it. Deep down, beneath all that bluster and coach-speak, Addazio knows it, too.”
And through it all, you know what Addazio did? Nothing.
You know what Colorado State’s administration did? Nothing.
They didn’t like it, naturally, but they stood tall and took it.
Granted, the situations aren’t identical. The Buffaloes occupy a loftier position in the Denver marketplace. They don’t need Keeler’s coverage.
Then again, he doesn’t need to actually speak to Sanders — or the backup left guard — to criticize him.
The ban won’t accomplish anything, save for making Sanders and the university look overly sensitive.
Viewer’s guide to Week 1
Before we offer suggestions for your viewing pleasure, one note on the programming plan for Saturday: Check the ABC schedule.
Thanks to the SEC’s all-in deal with Disney networks, ABC will broadcast back-to-back-to-back games involving SEC teams (at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.).
Get used to it, folks. The Big Ten’s relationship with ESPN and ABC ended last season, allowing the SEC to dominate the prime broadcast windows on both networks this fall.
That said, here are five games to watch this weekend:
(Listed chronologically. All times Pacific.)
1. Penn State at West Virginia (9 a.m. on Fox): If Penn State is good enough to hang with Ohio State and Oregon in the Big Ten race — we are skeptical — it should take care of business in Morgantown.
2. Clemson vs. Georgia in Atlanta (9 a.m. on ABC): Not all that long ago, Clemson had the superior program. Now, the Bulldogs are favored by two touchdowns.
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3. Miami at Florida (12:30 p.m. on ABC): UF coach Billy Napier has one of the hottest seats in the sport. Could Mario Cristobal’s game management lend Napier a hand?
4. Notre Dame at Texas A&M (4:30 p.m. on ABC): The Irish can’t lose more than two games if they hope to earn a playoff berth, but their schedule is soft. A loss here wouldn’t be debilitating.
5. LSU vs. USC in Las Vegas (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. on ABC): Two new quarterbacks, two retooled defenses and two head coaches facing low-level grumbling that could get very loud very quickly.
The ratings game, crew news, etc.
— ESPN’s popular pregame show, ‘College GameDay,’ will broadcast live from College Station, where Texas A&M hosts Notre Dame. (Former Alabama coach Nick Saban has joined the on-air team this season and is excellent.) Fox’s version, ‘Big Noon Kickoff,’ has set up shop in Morgantown for West Virginia’s opener against Penn State.
— Longtime college football fans should know that Fox has split up its usually-solid, occasionally-mediocre broadcast team of Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst). This season, Brando will work with former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner, Tillman with Eric Collins.
— ESPN also broke up an announcing team. Analyst Louis Riddick, who’s fabulous, is paired with play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen, while Mark Jones, who is most definitely not fabulous, will work with analyst Roddy Jones.
— Final nugget: The main game last weekend drew stellar ratings. Georgia Tech’s upset of Florida State from Ireland generated 4.99 million viewers, the largest Week 0 audience since 2019, according to Sports Media Watch.
The Hotline is deeply curious about the ratings this season and will track them weekly. The expanded College Football Playoff should make more games more meaningful. But what impact will the election have on audience numbers, particularly in the middle third of the season? It could be substantial.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716
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