Quincy Avery, the longtime private quarterback coach of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, is raising eyebrows with sharp criticism of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.
Avery questioned whether Sanders’ coaching career has ever been about the players, or just about his own family. In a recent appearance on the “Maggie and Perloff ” show, Avery cast doubt on the authenticity of Sanders’ coaching future now that his sons, including Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, are no longer playing under him.
“My forecast is that at some point this year, it’s going to get really, really difficult and Deion Sanders is going to have to make a real decision,” said Avery, who previously hosted a podcast with Watson. “Was he doing this the whole time to prop his son up and help him become this top-tier quarterback — which he did help him do? Or does he want to do this because he really cares about the kids?”
Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million contract extension with the Colorado Buffaloes in March.
Avery: Deion Sanders Will Find Out if He Truly Loves Coaching
Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer turned college head coach, has never coached a team that didn’t include one of his sons on the roster, first at Jackson State, then at Colorado. But with both Shedeur and Shilo Sanders now in the pros, 2025 will mark the first time Coach Prime is leading a program without one of his sons on the field.
“This is going to be brand new to him,” Avery said. “He’s going to find out if this is something he truly loves or if he was loving it because he got to help out his kids in a real way.”
The remarks come as Shedeur Sanders begins his rookie season with the Browns after being selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. While Sanders is in a four-man quarterback competition in Cleveland, he remains one of the more polarizing players in the league, in part because of his father’s unapologetic media presence.
Avery, who has trained quarterbacks including Watson, Trey Lance and Jalen Hurts, didn’t hold back in critiquing what he sees as Deion Sanders’ self-centered approach.
“The reason I have such a difficult time with Deion is because so many of the things he does, it’s about him rather than other people,” Avery said. “I think that a lot of people miss that. So we get to see who he is as a person when he has to take on this team without his sons involved.”
Deshaun Watson Taking Browns Rookie Shedeur Sanders ‘Under His Wing’
While Avery seems to have issues with Deion Sanders, that sentiment doesn’t appear to extend to Deshaun Watson. Despite being sidelined with an Achilles injury and expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season, Watson has remained active around the Browns’ facility. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the veteran quarterback has formed a growing bond with Shedeur Sanders.
“Watson, famously dubbed a ‘big swing and a miss’ by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam at the NFL Annual Meetings in March, has also taken Sanders under his wing to help him come up the learning curve quickly, and it’s been working,” Cabot said. “Sanders’ Hall of Fame dad, Deion, publicly supported Watson when some Browns fans cheered while he was down on the field in tears with his retorn Achilles Oct. 20 against the Bengals, and Watson is only too happy to repay the favor.”
Sanders faces an uphill battle as he looks to work his way up the depth chart with the Browns. He’ll have a chance during training camp, with rookies reporting on July 18.
