Deion Sanders proposes paying College Football Playoff players directly instead of conferences

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders revealed his bold idea for the College Football Playoff (CFP) that no one has brought up, and it doesn’t involve the format.

It’s about paying the players.

“Coach Prime” suggested paying the players for making the CFP and paying them extra if they advance.

“Now, it’s equality. Now, it’s even, and every player is making the same amount of money,” Sanders said in an interview with The Associated Press.

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Head coach Deion Sanders of the University of Colorado speaks about his journey beating bladder cancer during a press conference at the Touchdown Club at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., July 28, 2025.  (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

That interview also involved college football coaching legend Nick Saban as part of their new Aflac commercial. Saban has been vocal about getting college sports on the right path in this new name, image and likeness (NIL)-fueled era.

While a commissioner of college sports was floated, Saban said he wants no part of that.

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“I don’t want to be in that briar patch of being a commissioner, but I do want to do everything I can to make it right,” he noted.

Both coaches say more structure is needed, though, because schools have the ability to make players millionaires with NIL deals, and schools can pay up to $20.5 million each to their athletes over the next year.

Sanders referred to NIL deals as a joke, saying “there are only three or four guys who you might know their NIL, and the rest you’re just giving money to.”

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders watches warmups before a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. (Dylan Widger/Imagn Images)

Saban also worries about what happens after these players leave college.

“For years and years and years as coaches, and when we were players, we learned this: We’re trying to create value for our future,” Saban explained. “That’s why we’re going to college. It’s not just to see how much money we can make while we’re in college. It’s how that impacts your future as far as our ability to create value for ourselves.”

To Sanders’ point about paying players for making the College Football Playoff, conferences whose schools make the 12-team CFP receive $4 million. Those payouts increase with each win, but Sanders wants the wealth to be spread to those players, helping make that happen instead of just the conferences.

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That’s what the NFL does with its playoff bonuses. For example, winners of the Super Bowl received $171,000 each last year, no matter what part they played in the game.

And for those conferences that believe a guaranteed bid to the CFP should be available, like the SEC and Big Ten, Saban isn’t having it.

“The NFC East has the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants. They have the biggest fan bases of anyone, and they have to play their way in,” he reminded football fans. “Everyone should play their way in.”

Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes speaks with the media during the Big 12 Media Days at the Ford Center at The Star July 9, 2025, in Frisco, Texas. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

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The world of college sports, especially when it comes to building a college football program, has been turned on its head, and coaches continue to navigate those waters each season.

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