Updated April 7, 2026, 4:35 p.m. ET
- Colorado coach Deion Sanders addressed current feedback from former gamers who transferred from his program.
- He famous that some gamers “play the victim” and that this system made “tremendous mistakes” at sure positions final season.
- After a 3-9 season, Colorado misplaced over 35 gamers to transfers but in addition gained 59 newcomers this spring.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders gave his second information convention of the spring apply season Tuesday, April 7, and used it to deal with current feedback from former Colorado gamers who made comparisons between Sanders’ program and the brand new groups they joined.
The record consists of star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, who transferred from Colorado to LSU, and quarterback Ryan Staub, who transferred from Colorado to Tennessee.
∎ “My decision to come here was just based off of it just means more (at LSU),” Seaton said from LSU said March 26.
∎ “In my three years of college football, I haven’t had as much coaching as I’ve had in the first month that I’ve been here,” Staub also said in March.
They didn’t immediately disparage Colorado and may need been simply making an attempt to say one thing constructive about their new college with out realizing it’d replicate negatively on their earlier college. But Sanders introduced up the problem Tuesday with out being requested about it.
“Some of our past players have been commenting on us, which is cool with me,” Sanders stated. “We’re not gonna be provoked or coming back or say anything ignorantly back. I wish those guys the best.”
Deion Sanders says ‘some younger males play the sufferer’
Sanders famous a few of these gamers made their names at Colorado earlier than shifting on. He stated he was proud departed gamers had been capable of “earn more than they earned here” with funds for his or her names, photographs and likenesses (NIL).
“We still in good relationships with quite a few, but you got to understand, some young men play the victim, and that’s not the case,” Sanders stated. “We try to treat everybody here with utmost respect and professionalism.”
Former Colorado defensive lineman London Merritt left for Clemson and explained his decision similarly. Players usually don’t depart except they suppose they’ll do higher some place else, however saying publicly can sting their former staff.
“It was just a lot better than where I was,” Merritt stated. “Facility-wise, coaching-wise, feel like it was just a better option for me.”
Sanders misplaced greater than 35 gamers who determined to switch after final season, when the Buffaloes finished 3-9. But he additionally gained 59 newcomers this spring, together with transfers from different colleges.
Those newcomers “may have seen that the grass is greener from some other school that they left,” Sanders stated.
Deion Sanders: ‘We made some great errors’
Colorado closes the spring apply season April 11 with an annual intrasquad scrimmage at Folsom Field. It would be the first spring sport that’s not televised on cable tv since Sanders was employed in December 2022.
“I think we’ve gotten better everywhere, starting with me, and understanding what to go get, what we have, how to mature it, how to develop it, as well as the staff that we have,” Sanders stated.
Looking again ultimately season, he talked about failures at sure positions with out naming names or positions. One evident setback got here at quarterback, the place the Buffaloes suffered after Sanders’ son Shedeur left for the NFL final 12 months. This 12 months, redshirt freshman Julian Lewis is anticipated to take over, with competitors from Utah switch Isaac Wilson and freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne.
“We made some tremendous mistakes in certain positions that derailed us a year ago,” Sanders stated. “The first couple years, we had stability at those positions that highlighted us. So, we learn quite a bit of not just talent, but understanding mentality. And mentality is something that we targeted, is something that we sit down and interviewed, and made sure not only the young men, but the parents, had that type of mentality, because the parents play a tremendous role in these young men’s lives.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
