Coach Prime – Season 2 Episode 5 “Soul Searching” Recap & Review

Soul Searching

In Season 2 Episode 5 of Coach Prime, we begin to see more of a slippery slope take shape with the University of Colorado Buffalos and the players of the Deion Sanders-coached team. The second last episode is titled ‘Soul Searching’. And in it, the team definitely needs to do just that. The episode kicks off with a road win over the Arizona State Sun Devils on the road, a win that makes Colorado 4-2 in the standings. Two wins shy of getting a birth in a bowl game.

Things begin to take a change of pace after that win, though. Travis Hunter is still injured, but if they can get him back soon, it could boost the team’s confidence and encourage them to keep going forward. The episode opens with Travis out on a fishing trip, taking in some nature to help him recharge during his time off from the team.

His return is imminent. However, struggles are still starting to show despite Colorado’s decent record. The offensive line is banged up, leaving starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders having to throw the ball quicker than usual.

Colorado is poised for a big win after defeating Arizona. They play a dismantled Stamford football team at home and go into the locker room with a 29-0 lead at halftime. However, Stamford rallies, taking them to overtime in the second half, and ends up defeating them.

And the schedule gets worse from there for Coach Prime. His team now must go to Pasadena, California, and play UCLA at the Rose Bowl (the stadium, not the actual Rose Bowl game) to bounce back from an embarrassing loss.

By episode 5, we also now have a feel for the show’s pacing at this point. It was the shortest episode so far this season at only 38 minutes, but it still gets into a reflective moment with Deion Sanders and his coaching staff walking around the Rose Bowl the night before the game.

Sanders’ coaching staff is made up of predominantly black men. Some come over from Jackson State with him. Others are acquired from elsewhere, but having this many black men on staff in college football is unheard of. It’s a moment of gratitude for the other coaches, as their interview segments about working under Coach Prime have been a big blessing for them.

Colorado goes on to lose to UCLA in the climax of the episode. The cracks in the foundation begin to show with offensive line problems, and although Travis Hunter is back on the field, he doesn’t make much of an impact because the QB doesn’t have enough time in the pocket. Colorado now sits at 4–4 by the time the episode ends.

It is here that, from the outside looking in, we think that Sanders’ coaching style and being in the spotlight is starting to hurt the team. But behind the scenes, we see the repercussions of having a confident start for a young team.

At a team meeting, a member of player personnel walks down and tells every offensive player that they are going to start having to compete for their jobs. Even Sanders’ two sons who are on the team are put on a short leash. It’s a moment of shock, but it’s something Coach Prime is willing to do to better the team going forward.

The Episode Review

Anyone who watches Colorado football during this season knows that when they started to show signs of regression, you have to wonder what was going on behind the scenes there. Now we know. We see that nobody is off the hook when issues arise on the team.

Anyone who knows how this season ends for Coach Prime’s first year in the football program will find this episode and most likely the season finale quite interesting. It’s been a roller coaster of a season; unlike season 1, this is not all sunshine and rainbows for the football team.