Livescore
Go ahead and question Deion Sanders. From a 35,000-foot view high above the Flatirons, Coach Prime’s mass flipping of the Colorado roster looks callous and reckless and wrong.
Your feelings are valid. Sanders’ methods are questionable. They might also be brilliant. We’ll see. Both can be true.
That’s not the discussion, though. The player freedom that’s been established — what’s at the heart of this issue — is not going away. It’s just a matter of how it is implemented.
Coaches can “cut” players. Coaches can be crass, cold-hearted and rude doing it, too.
“Those of you we don’t run off, we’re going to try to make you quit,” Sanders told his new players upon arriving in December.
It sure seems callous as 28 additional Buffaloes have entered the portal since the conclusion of Saturday’s televised, highly attended and widely viewed spring game. There are only about a dozen scholarship players remaining from Colorado’s 2022 roster; the scholarship limit for football is 85.
That’s either a lot of room for growth or a cratering so deep it was last seen on the moon.
It’s undoubtedly a lot of players to run off in a short period of time, especially in an NCAA that is still supposed to be a teeny, weeny bit about education.
And while it is particularly difficult for the NCAA to legislate morality, who would have thought legislation would be needed to prevent a coach from turning over an entire roster. What about common decency?
Now, get used to it because Coach Prime is not doing this alone. What’s occurring this week is merely a variation on a theme. Though not nearly as drastic, Lincoln Riley turned over USC’s roster in a similar fashion just one offseason ago.
The transfer portal is only 4 ½ years old. The one-time transfer exemption will turn two in August.
Coach Prime’s methods may only be the opening act.
The NCAA isn’t going backward on either the portal or the exemption for the same reason the rules were changed in the first place. The risk of legal liability is too great. The NCAA would likely have gotten sued if it continued to restrict players with the indentured nature of the year-in-residence bylaw.
It absolutely will get sued if it tries to roll back the new, existing freedoms.
On your way to the House of Outrage, consider a 12-year-old NCAA bylaw that essentially allows first-year coaches to “cut” players as long as the athletes are allowed to keep their scholarships.
That’s exactly happened last year with the Trojans as Riley flipped a large portion of his roster. Several players stayed despite being cut, choosing to give up football and continue receiving a free education — because it’s USC.
Quick question for the Colorado administration: Given CU’s similar sterling academic reputation, how many Buffaloes are taking advantage of that same rule after being notified their services were no longer needed?
The question that remains is how Sanders is transforming his lineup. When reminded this week on the “Pat McAfee Show” that 41 Colorado players had entered the portal (at that time), Prime responded, “Is that all?”
Now, get out of the way. Coach Prime continues to say he has a plan.
“We already know what we’ve got coming in,” Sanders told McAfee. “Y’all just don’t know what we’ve got coming in. We already know what we’ve got on the way in, baby. They’re probably in the airport right now.”
An improvement from 1-11 — the worst record in Colorado history last season — to even 5-7 would be something close to a miracle at this point. Even though it was through the lens of television, the Buffs looked small in their spring game. Special teams was a disaster. The schedule already is loaded with TCU, USC, UCLA, Oregon State and Utah.
The only winner at this point? Perhaps just Sanders himself. This looks more like a career detour than a vocation. He could get bored in two years and jump to another program or … end up in a studio somewhere.
In that sense, not much has changed. Deion Sanders the brand is bigger than whatever Coach Prime is or will become. If the Colorado administration didn’t know that when it hooked up for this joyride, shame on them.
Few other coaches could get away with this practice, and how many other administrations would even allow it?
As of right now, Sanders is being ballyhooed as mad genius manipulator with an audacious plan. Whether it works is a whole different discussion.
The rules, though, say he is absolutely allowed to try.
Another way to put it: Don’t hate the player; hate the game.
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