April 26, 2023 By: Mark Knudson

Deion Sanders gives CU gold at the box office, a Prime black eye off the field

He is who we said he is, and he did what he said he’d do. And now, all of a sudden, it all comes a surprise.

Welcome to reality, Colorado Buffalo football fans.

Deion Sanders and his posse rolled into Boulder last December amid all sorts of fanfare, with the new coach and his video crew making sure everyone knew he was “bringing my own luggage, and it Louis” and that everyone who’d worn a CU uniform the year before was encouraged to “jump in that (transfer) portal.”

So they did.

And they are.

In droves.

Some CU fans are surprised, even alarmed. But they aren’t jumping off the Deion bus…yet. That won’t happen until he bolts for a bigger gig, which will happen sooner rather than later.

Then they’ll get pissed.

Never forget, Deion’s only loyalty is to Deion.

But for now, CU fans are rationalizing and justifying.

They’re saying things like “it’s all part of college sports” and “they were arguably the worst team in the country last year” and “it needed to be done” in an effort to spin the mass exodus as something good for the school and the program.

It’s not.

It’s a black eye.

This is NOT a part of college sports.

That’s why you don’t see it happening anywhere else. Players transfer schools all the time, yes. But not in mass. And not because their egomaniac coach never gave them a chance.

Here are the ugly numbers as they stand at the moment. Colorado has lost an incredible 70+ scholarship football players to the transfer portal, most of whom – but not all – were encouraged to do so by Sanders. He cannot, by rule, “cut” them and strip away their scholarships – that can’t be done for football performance reasons – but he can – and did – treat them like garbage and make it known they were not wanted.

For all the hoopla (and income) surrounding Colorado’s first ever actual real spring football game – with fans and everything – Colorado now has about 60 players in the program, just 14 of whom played at CU last year. (Good luck with the preseason predictions, Phil Steele.) Sanders will hope to attract as many has three full recruiting classes out of the transfer portal in time for everyone to have a meet and greet sometime this summer.

In Deion’s world, none of the returning Buffs – including the very young ones – were, or are, worth keeping or developing.

He has no idea – and evidently doesn’t care – what he inherited. Last season, the Buffs took the field with a roster of 113 players, 90 – NINETY – of whom were either freshman or sophomores. If the NCAA still sanctioned Junior Varsity football competition, CU would have been just fine. Instead, these kids played NINE varsity teams that went to bowl games, SEVEN who ended up in the Top 25, and three who played on or after New Years Day, including one, TCU, who competed in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season. These Baby Buffs never gave up, never quit and gave their best for their school.

Their reward wasn’t a chance to get back to work in the offseason and improve themselves and continue to build toward a Pac 12 title run – which is what other programs in a similar situation would do. Their reward was a swift kick to the curb.

If anyone doubts that several of those young players still have bright futures in College Football…when they grow up a bit…doesn’t know CU football history. (CU’s track record for keeping potentially great players around has been crappy even before Deion arrived.) New England Patriots first round draft pick, defensive back Christian Gonzalez from Oregon, was a Buff before transferring prior to last season. Same with receiver Brendon Rice at Southern Cal, who had a big Cotton Bowl game for the Trojans, and safety Mark Perry, who started for TCU in the CFP.

The list goes on.

And it’s going to continue to go on with players like Jordyn Tyson, Owen McCown and Montana Lemonius-Craig. CU fans will very likely lament some of these defections, too…as well as all the others who will leave Boulder the minute Deion does.

They’re loyal to Deion, not CU.

And when that happens, all that will be left is a crater that the next new coach will have to climb out of.

For now it’s, “well, it’s a tough biz you know…that’s the way it goes” from CU fans…each of whom would be outraged and pointing fingers if this sort of mass curb kicking of student athletes happened at say, Nebraska. Ironically, when new Husker coach Matt Rhule arrived in Lincoln a few days before the Deion Show rolled into Boulder, his first words to the returning NU players was “I’m here to be YOUR coach…” Nebraska will likely lose about a dozen players to the transfer portal, which is par for the course with any program when there’s a coaching change. But none were told to “hit the portal” before they ever got to meet or showcase their abilities in front of the new coaching staff.

CU opens the season at TCU before the two polar opposite approaches from Sanders and Rhule collide in Boulder on September 9.