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Deion Sanders has always done things his way.
So it stands to reason that things would be no different in his role as the new head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.
Colorado athletic director Rick George knew this. Otherwise, George wouldn’t have hired Sanders in the first place.
But Sanders’ methods, which have led nearly three quarters of the 2022 Colorado roster to leave the program, aren’t for everyone.
Former Buffs players and parents have players have spoken out about the amount of players Sanders has seemingly pushed out of the program.
“John Tyson would call it something, all right. But it’s not something we can print,” a Denver Post article said.
“My thoughts on Deion wouldn’t be good, so I’m not going to say anything,” the elder Tyson, father of former freshman Buffs wideout Jordyn Tyson, another Monday portal entry, told me by phone.
“It’s a bad situation for us as a family, I will say that. And it’s unfortunate, but it’s the nature of the system.”
But George disagrees. In fact, he recently backed his new head coach at the Pac-12’s spring meetings.
“I have confidence in him and his staff and they know what they’re doing,” George told ESPN. “… He’s been very honest and forthright. He’s been very open about it publicly and privately. He’s trying to build a winner at Colorado, and this is his way to do it.”
George also stated that while Sanders may have cut some players, others have opted to leave Boulder.
“When [Sanders] first came in, he said, ‘There’s a lot of people here who may not be here,’ because he evaluated and looked at the talent on our team,” George said. “He’s just publicly stated it, where a lot of people don’t. We’re not the first to do this. The NCAA rule says you can have those discussions. If a student-athlete wants to stay, they can stay. The university has to pay for them, they don’t count on your scholarship limits and they’re not on the team.”
Sanders will undoubtedly continue to rub people the wrong way. It’s just the way that Coach Prime has always been. But so long as he has the backing of George and the Colorado fan base, it may not matter.