Deion Sanders’ tenure as the Colorado Buffaloes head coach got off to a red-hot start this past college football season. It started with wins over Texas Christian, Nebraska and Colorado State.
Since then, it’s been a combination of on-field struggles and off-field drama for Prime in Boulder. The team lost eight of its final nine games, including blowout defeats at the hands of Oregon and Washington State.
It has not been much better since Sanders’ first season at Colorado came to an end. We’ve seen a mass exodus of players from Sanders’ football team roughly a calendar year after the Pro Football Hall of Famer made his way from Jackson State.
That includes former top-15 recruit Cormani McClain as well as up-and-coming running back Alton McCaskill. It all has to do with Sanders’ mentality as a head coach and allegations that plays a game of favoritism. As for McClain, Deion took a shot at him on his way out of dodge.
“I’m always in prayer for our young men, and I want the best for them. I pray to God that he goes to a program that challenges him, as well as hold him accountable and develop him as a young man,” Sanders said.
“Unfortunately we weren’t the program that could accomplish that, so preferably he understands that this is the second go-round and get it — go get it man, because he has a tremendous amount of talent. But he has to want it.”
That’s not too subtle.
Sanders is no stranger to controversy. He had in the past gotten into it with former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban over Name, Image, Likenss (NIL) — which was one of the factors in Saban’s decision to retire. Heck, Sanders had previously told Colorado backers that he needs more money to pay top-end players. Welcome to the new “amateur” athletics world.
“We definitely need giving, you know what I mean?” Deion Sanders said back in November.
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Deion Sanders Drama Continues At Colorado
Prime’s daughter, Shelomi Sanders, followed her dad and brothers from Jackson State to Colorado ahead of the 2023-24 women’s college basketball team. She ultimately played just 11 minutes in five games for the Buffaloes after starring for the Tigers earlier in her college career.
As such, Sanders opted to enter the transfer portal for an opportunity to find more minutes at a different college. Apparently, her father is not too happy with that decision.
“(It) was stupid. You don’t enter the portal. You get a team before you enter the portal. You kinda get a team before you enter the portal,” Sanders said earlier in the week. “You know, that’s what I would advise a child. And I know, ‘Well it’s illegal…’ C’mon, man.”
Bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off.
Calling your daughter out publicly for her decision to transfer. That doesn’t seem to be a great look. However, Sanders doubled down on his criticism of Shelomi while noting that he’s in Colorado to stay. The comment was very patriarchal in nature.
“You’ve got to understand I’m a real father,” Sanders said. “Where I come from, historically, kids follow their parents. The Parents don’t follow the kids. That doesn’t work in my book. That doesn’t work where I am from. I am the leader of the family. So, I’ve been dictating where my kids go. They’re not dictating where I go.”
Sanders has always had a very inflated sense of self. It’s what made him such a darn good football player during a 15-year career in the NFL. It’s also what’s leading to some major drama in Boulder. As for his relationship with his daughter, a certain Kermit meme comes to mind.