Deion Sanders’ attempt to move Colorado’s season opener against Arizona State to Week 0 was an example of the “marketing genius” of the Buffaloes’ head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer, RJ Young said on his most recent “#1 CFB Show” podcast.

Young said that Kirk Herbstreit “probably spoke out of turn” when he revealed before the College Football Playoff National Championship Game that Colorado would “probably” play Arizona State in a Week 0 game, instead of against TCU as originally planned. Obviously, that won’t happen as the Buffaloes and Horned Frogs will indeed start their respective seasons against each other.

The intent, as Young pointed out, was to drum up interest during an otherwise non-convincing Week 0 schedule that included Hawaii visiting Vanderbilt, New Mexico hosting UMass, and FIU at Louisiana Tech.

“If you put Arizona State vs. Colorado on that slate of games, you have my undivided attention, because Week 0 is notoriously a bad week of football,” Young said.

The FOX Sports personality brought up the history of Week 0, originally introduced by the NCAA as what’s been referred to as the “Hawaii Rule”. Ultimately, Sanders’ attempt to work with Dillingham to move the Arizona State/Colorado game didn’t qualify for an exception due to the number of teams that are set to play 9 consecutive weeks in 2023.

Sanders’ effort to move the game is typical of his personality, Young said, recalling how Sanders has continually “bet on himself” throughout his career and has followed through — starting with his time with Florida State and continuing throughout his playing and coaching career.

“Introducing the ‘image’ to name, image, and likeness, he is the inventor and innovator of all this. It comes to him. Neon Deion. Primetime. That persona has done so much, not just because he’s a marketing genius, but because he had the skill to back up every last thing,” he said.