Deion Sanders Wants ‘More Privacy’ as He Reflects on ‘Adversity’ in First Season with Colorado (Exclusive)

All eyes are on Coach Prime.

In his first season as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, Deion Sanders (better known as Coach Prime) was among the most talked-about personalities in sports despite his team's lackluster 4-8 record.

Now, he's preparing for the world to see a more personal glimpse into his life during the debut season in the second season of Prime Video's docuseries, Coach Prime.

Sanders' decision to leave his former role at Jackson State to take the head coach position at the University of Colorado — and bring his sons Shilo and Shedeur along with him — made headlines this year through the team's rollercoaster of a season.

So did his ongoing struggle with painful blood clots in his thighs and feet, chatter over his practice of "ranking" his children, the Buffaloes' continued losses and, as he announced Sunday night, his split from ex-fiancée Tracey Edmonds.

Coach Prime isn't bothered by the attention, though, even if cameras were rolling for some of the more vulnerable moments of the season. Instead, he hopes his players learned an important lesson while Prime Video cameras followed them through their various "highs and lows" this season for Coach Prime.

"You always wish that you had a little more privacy," Sanders tells PEOPLE of the spotlight, "but the same thing that makes you shine will show your blemishes."

"So, you've got to take the good with the bad. You can't just want everyone there when the hype machine is rolling, you have to understand there's another side to this."

Coach Prime calls the upcoming episodes "exciting, exhilarating, electrifying," and he admits that the series caught him out of his element at times. "It was a whirlwind early on," he says of the team's 3-0 start to the season before a frustrating losing streak took over.

"Then it calmed down to a halt. We're going to show you how we dealt with that adversity, it was tough because I've never lost pretty much in life, and in the last several years of my life, 10 years, decade, I'm a darn winner, so dealing with losses was tough," Sanders admits.

The six-part docuseries will transport fans inside the locker room with the Buffaloes as Sanders and his sons Shilo and Shedeur set out to turn around the Buffaloes' success.

"No, we didn't win as many games as we desired, but if there are no valleys, we wouldn't enjoy the peaks," Sanders says.

Coach Prime doesn't think the media hype surrounding his team played a part in their frustrating second half of the season, and he thinks the pressure of the limelight will only help them in the long run.

"These young men, they want the smoke. They want that love, that hype, that attention. I don't know a high school football athlete, or a college football athlete, that don't want attention and don't want more followers. I haven't met one yet."

"You've just got to teach them how to handle it in that moment, but also allow them to understand now what shines — well, that same light gives heat, so it is going to be hot too, now. You're not just going to shine. When you do something wrong, that's going to be illuminated, as well."

Sanders describes himself as "intense" on and off the field, although he claims he's "probably harder on" himself than his players, and he believes his success lies in his process.

"There's a process to all of it, and you have to go through certain processes of life to get to where you want to get to. It just doesn't happen overnight. Contrary to what people may believe, success does not happen overnight."

It was especially difficult for Sanders to navigate his ongoing battle with blood clots, he says.

"It's tougher than it may look because you've got to understand, I'm an athlete. When you're an athlete-athlete, and you can't run anymore and you have to get your foot rubbed down a few times a day to keep the circulation going, that's different for me."

The blood clots, and subsequent surgeries, prevented Sanders from running out with his team onto the field before games. "You want to lead your team out running. You don't want to lead them out walking. As the season progressed, I was able to do more and I'm happy that I think I made it to the 50-yard line in the last game."

Looking back, Sanders is proud of his team this season.

"It was a tremendous season of hope, and that's what we instilled, not just about the game, but we took the hope that we had for the season and funneled it to you in some aspect of your life," he says of the fans. "The hope that we have, we want you to take that as well and utilize it for life."

Coach Prime also notes that sales for Buffaloes merchandise have increased exponentially since his arrival.

According to Front Office Sports, Sanders has driven a 1220% increase in merchandise sales and a 40% increase in out-of-state applications" to the school.

"See, outside of Boulder, people may think that we weren't successful because of the record. Inside of Boulder, our fan base is like, y'all have lost y'all's minds," Sanders tells PEOPLE.

"Do you understand what we were and do you understand what we are? We're sold out every game. I can't walk through an airport or on campus anywhere without someone having Colorado apparel."

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Sanders thinks this season of Coach Prime may surprise viewers when it begins streaming on Dec. 7.

"Maybe the enormity of what was transpiring at the height of everything, and maybe the subtleness of what transpired at the conclusion of everything. You'll see."