Strike 1: Deion Sanders is expected to attend Big 12 Football Media Days when they begin on Wednesday in Frisco, Texas. He’ll take his customary spot, seated front and center before a room full of reporters and a multitude of cameras. You know, where he’s always been very much at home. None of this will be the least bit unusual.

What is unusual is that it’s been almost three months since he’s done so.

And there’s a good chance that it could be one of the last times we see him in this setting, at least for this year.

Sources in Texas who are very familiar with the situation say that Deion’s health issues are extremely serious. They’re once again related to the blood clot issues he’s battled for quite a while now. As recently as 2023 he had another flare up around this same time of year. This has the potential to sideline him for this season, or even longer.

So there’s a very good chance that Deion Sanders is not on the CU sidelines in 2025.

Colorado football fans last saw the Buffs third-year head coach at CU’s annual spring game back in mid-April, when he presided over the not-so-grand decision/ceremony for the jersey retirement of Heisman winner Travis Hunter and his son, former Buff QB Shedeur Sanders. The NFL Draft followed shortly thereafter and that included Shedeur’s unexpected slide to the fifth round when he was finally tabbed by the Cleveland Browns.

The media mini-frenzy that followed Shedeur’s draft drama removed the spotlight from Deion, who returned to his Texas home and slipped into an unexpected place – solitude. Since then, according to the sources, he’s been dealing with the blood clot issues that have already cost him two of his toes and reportedly threatened to lead to amputation of a foot two years ago.

Reports of an unspecified illness began to circulate, and Deion did something else unexpected: He offered no comment. Remember, Sanders and his social media team have documented pretty much all of the head coach’s activities, including doctor visits and procedures back in 2023. Social media silence – all the public got were vague messages from Deion Sanders, Jr. – answered almost nothing and left everything to the imagination.

Deion finally did a podcast back in late May, when he said of his health issues, “What I’m dealing with right now is at a whole ‘nother level.”

That’s scary, to say the least. Nothing there to calm concerns from Buff faithful.

Needless to say, Deion’s health will be front and center when he meets with the media – friendly and not-so-friendly – this week. What he and his doctors divulge is certain to have an impact one way or another on his team’s preparations for their 2025 season opener against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.

It would appear there are four possibilities: First, the CU coach gets the “all-clear” from his doctors, and moves past this health scare and returns to Boulder to resume his coaching duties. That’s the best case scenario. Second, he could do what some other injured head coaches have done in the past, and decide to spend game days off his feet and up in the coaches box for the coming season. This would seem like a solid compromise if his doctors remain concerned about his health moving forward.

Third, Deion (and his doctors of course) could declare him “out for the season,” which is what the sources in Texas are expecting to happen. Sanders just signed a new five-year, $54 million contract, so he’s unlikely to just step aside altogether at this point. Then again, if that’s what the doctors say needs to happen, that could be option four.

Sanders has already been through more than most when it comes to health issues. He’s lost the two toes and had an incredible 16 surgeries to address the blood clots issues in his thighs and lower legs. Add in the physical and mental stresses of his job, and it’s fair to wonder how much more the 57-year-old coach is willing and able to take. As a head coach, Sanders (13-12 in two seasons at CU) is average. As a salesman and product endorser, he has no peer. He could very easily reach the point where he decides to make product pitch man his full time gig.

Especially if those are the doctor’s orders.