Deion Sanders is everywhere these days, as the core engineer of an impressive first-year turnaround at Colorado. The Buffaloes (3–2) have been college football’s biggest draw through the first five weeks of the season, and now Hollywood hopes those eyeballs will translate to a new scripted comedy series based on Coach Prime’s life.
Sanders is the focus in a new TIME cover story by Sean Gregory on Friday, which featured news about plans for a scripted show being developed by Kevin Hart’s media company. It is being described as “Entourage meets the gridiron,” Sanders’s team told TIME.
According to Deadline, SMAC Productions, which is run by former NFL great Michael Strahan, is working with Hart’s Hartbeat on the project.
The story will mirror Sanders’s, per Deadline, with a Pro Football Hall of Famer taking over as a first-year coach “as he juggles his celebrity status and soaring personal brand while aiming to secure his legacy with a championship.”
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Ali LeRoi (Everybody Hates Chris) has been tabbed to write and executive produce the series.
Sanders and the Buffaloes are college football’s biggest story so far in 2023, in no small part due to an unprecedented use of social media, headed up by Sanders’s son, Deion Sanders Jr. The team also features his sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders at quarterback and defensive back, respectively, with the former firmly in Heisman conversations after an impressive start to his FBS career.
The Buffs, which finished 1–11 a year ago under Karl Dorrell, beat last season’s national runner-up TCU in the season-opener before wins over rivals Nebraska and Colorado State. The team was knocked back to Earth by Oregon in Week 4, 42–6, but gave another Pac-12 favorite, USC, a real run in the second half last week, losing 48–41.
Sanders looks to lead Colorado back into the win column on Saturday evening against Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Networks.
