Prime Time vs. Fisch Time: The ‘It’s Personal’ Showdown in Pac-12 Football

We are about to dive into the wild story of Colorado University’s head football coach, Deion Sanders, commandeering the motto “It’s Personal” from the University of Arizona’s head football coach, Jedd Fisch, in the Pac-12 conference.

It’s unlikely Colorado Head Football Coach Deion Sanders realized at the time he began using “It’s Personal” that Coach Fisch and the Arizona Football program had been living by it for the past couple of years.

It’s not the nicest thing to be using Fisch’s team motto “It’s Personal” considering he’s been using it since he arrived in Tucson. Coach Sanders, on the other hand, may still be unaware of this information.

That said, has the Pac-12 ever seen anything like this before? It’s like a sitcom unfolding in real life, with a dash of Saturday Night Live humor thrown in for good measure. Every press conference might become a comedy show, with reporters possibly baiting the coaches to one-up each other with their “It’s Personal” banter before the Colorado game on November 11th.

As the football season moves to week four, the fans eagerly await the showdown between Colorado and Arizona usually because Arizona beats Colorado, sometimes in an embarrassing fashion.

This season, it may as well be dubbed the “It’s Personal Bowl.” The hype will be off the charts, lots of folks have jumped on the Buffs bandwagon. Hopefully, Rob Gronkowski shows love for Arizona that week and NOT Colorado as he did last week when he was filmed dancing with Colorado’s 98-year-old famous fan last Saturday.

Picture the scene: Deion Sanders, sporting one of his signature flashy suits wearing a cowboy hat and glasses, sitting in the back of the room, eyes lighting up at the sheer brilliance of those words. “It’s Personal.” It’s like a gift from the football gods, just waiting to be claimed. And claim it, he did.

Prime has filed for a trademark or two, including the phrase “It’s Personal.” Per Josh Gerben, “The filings seek to protect these trademarks for a clothing brand, production company, and even coaching services.”

Not only did he trademark “It’s Personal” he gave all of his players and coaches his signature sunglasses and then started selling them to the public raising more than $1 million overnight.

https://Twitter.com/aGOODoutfit/status/1703499104238858631

Coach Sanders, or Coach Prime as he is fondly referred to, recently was challenged by the opposing rival coach from Colorado State Jay Norvell before the game last Saturday stating publicly, “When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and sunglasses off. That’s what my mom taught me.” Apex Jones was on point when he Tweeted, “Jay Norvell, took a shot at how Prime was raised, he was talkin’ about that man’s momma.”

Sanders brought his mom and The Rock into the locker room pre-game. When Deion brought up the fact that it was alluded to that he wasn’t raised right, one of Deion’s sons shouted “We not takin’ that grandma!” Grandma Sanders then told the team (and the cameras) that she raised him right, and she raised him to be himself, and added, “If you have to kick ass, kick ass!”

Coach Prime continued the narrative with his team all week, repeating “It’s Personal” in the team room and press conferences, in the locker room, and more. “They done messed around and made it…Personal!” It was over, he formally commandeered the phrase after that.

Prime’s team ended up beating the Rams in double overtime by eight points, 43-35 on a spectacular interception in the Rams end zone. What a win! I guess his new motto worked!

Note to Colorado opponents: Don’t talk crap about Colorado before your game.

Deion has taken a page out of University of Arizona head football coach Jedd Fisch’s playbook and turned it into the talk of the entire college football landscape.

Is it time mid-season to come up with a new motto for Arizona Football? Maybe “It’s REALLY Personal now”? Or is it an opportunity missed? How about borrowing from Sanders himself? “I expect to be great.” Or “Look good, Play good.” Or how about this one, “If I don’t fish in the morning, I fish in the evening,” get what we did there?

In the wild and wacky world of college football, rivalries often go beyond touchdowns and tackles. You may not think Arizona vs. Colorado is a rivalry, but Colorado fans have told me to my face that it is a rivalry. College football is about bragging rights and school pride, and sometimes, it’s just plain personal.

Sanders, aka “Prime Time,” is known for his electric personality and his ability to make anything exciting. Fisch, on the other hand, is the calm and collected architect of the Arizona Wildcats football team focused on NIL deals and bringing in NFL greats to educate and support his players.

But what happens when their worlds collide over a catchphrase? Maybe a little bit of head-scratching as Arizona will continue to be in the same conference as Colorado next season in the BIG 12.

Taking another page out of Fisch’s playbook, not only is Colorado using and trademarking”It’s Personal” he also is starting to attract former NFL talent. Warren Sapp just announced on TikTok that he will be enrolling to finish his college degree at Colorado and becoming a part of Colorado Football’s coaching staff.

This week, Colorado is practicing Oregon’s fight song for their matchup. As Oscar Wilde famously said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

It’s time for a new motto. And oh yeah, trademark it quickly!