Not everyone in college football is impressed with how Deion Sanders is building his roster at Colorado.
Since Sanders took over as head coach of the Buffaloes, “Coach Prime” has overseen a massive roster overhaul as he attempts to build a winner in Boulder, Colorado.
University of Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders takes the field for warmups before the Black and Gold game at Folsom Field April 22, 2023. (Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Over 70 players have left the team since Sanders was hired in December, according to 247Sports.
While some players left the program voluntarily, the NCAA stipulates that first-year head coaches may cut players from the roster, though the university must honor the players’ scholarships.
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi does not like how Sanders is using the rule.
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“That’s not the way it’s meant to be,” Narduzzi told 247Sports last week at the ACC’s spring meetings. “That’s not what the rule intended to be. It was not to overhaul your roster. We’ll see how it works out but that, to me, looks bad on college football coaches across the country. The reflection is on one guy right now but when you look at it overall – those kids that have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and goals in life – I don’t know how many of those 70 that left really wanted to leave or they were kicked in the butt to get out.”
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders watches as his team warms up prior to their spring game at Folsom Field on April 22, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
In late April, offensive lineman Travis Gray detailed how he was informed he would no longer be part of the roster.
Gray received a text message from offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle the day after Colorado’s Spring Game, asking him to come to the team facility to meet with Sanders.
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“He’s walking with me and said, ‘Hey buddy, you’re going to get cut today. I’m sorry to tell you this. I didn’t want you to hear it from Coach Prime. I wanted you to hear it from my mouth. I didn’t want to cut you, but we had to cut five offensive linemen, and you were the last one,’” Gray told The Athletic.
Gray walked into Sanders’ office and received news that he would no longer be a part of Colorado’s football team.
“I was like, ‘Oh, God.’ I saw the mean mug in his face,” Gray said. “He told me, ‘You’re 6-foot-8, 320 pounds. I know in my heart of hearts a school is going to pick you up in the portal when you enter. Make your weaknesses your strengths and keep progressing. I hope you have a great future, it just won’t be here at the University of Colorado.'”
The rule allowing first-year coaches to cut players came about after Narduzzi became head coach at Pitt in 2015.
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Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi walks on the sidelines during a college football game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the University of Miami Hurricanes on Nov. 26, 2022 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I grew up in a profession that you can’t tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability,” Narduzzi said. “I think he’ll be shocked that he probably had some pretty good football players in that room. When I got to Pitt back in 2015, I didn’t kick anybody off. Zero. Those are your guys. When you become a head coach you inherit that team and you coach that team. If someone wants to leave, that’s great. You don’t kick them out. I disagree with that whole process. That’s not why I got in the game.”
Sanders has not hidden his intentions at Colorado, telling players in his first meeting as head coach to “get ready to go ahead and jump in that [transfer] portal” as he was bringing players with him from Jackson State University.
While Sanders is going about the roster overhaul in a way that has drawn criticism, he certainly has the Colorado fan base excited about the future, with Colorado setting attendance records for its Spring Game, and the program has sold out of season tickets for the first time in 27 years.
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