Paul Finebaum Slams Deion Sanders For 'Disgraceful' Behavior

The college football season hasn't even kicked off yet, but Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is already under fire for a recent press conference.

Last season we saw the head coach take some heat for the way he used the transfer portal, which saw him urge players from the previous regime to leave so he could bring in 50+ portal players. The head coach also demoted his offensive coordinator Sean Lewis in the middle of the season, after he had left a head coaching job to work under Sanders. To cap it all off, Sanders also publicly said he'd replace his offensive line after a 28-16 loss against UCLA that saw his son/quarterback Shedeur Sanders get sacked seven times.

“The big picture, you get get new lineman," Sanders said to reporters after the game. "That’s the picture and I’ma paint it perfectly,”

Sanders is making headlines again this offseason, and this time it doesn't have to do with any coach moves, players, or the transfer portal. Instead, he caused an uproar when he refused to speak to Eric Christensen of KCNC, the local CBS affiliate. Sanders revealed that while it wasn't anything Christensen had done, he would not be talking to anyone associated with CBS.

"I’m not doing anything with CBS,” Sanders said. “Next question. . . . It ain’t got nothing to do with you. It’s above that. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. I’ve got love for you. I appreciate and respect you. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. They know what they did.”

Sanders also refused to answer a question from Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, who was called out by the head coach for always being on the "attack".

While Sanders received some backlash from fans around the country, on Tuesday it was ESPN's Paul Finebaum who threw some shade.

After First Take host Matt Barrie jokingly asked Finebaum if he was one the person who voted for Colorado in the preseason AP Poll, Finebaum not only shut down that notion but even had a bit of a message for the First Take cast.

"Being First Take I'm surprised we didn't have an entire two-hour show today praising Coach Prime for completely dumping on the local media," Finebaum said . "The media that shows up every day at his practices to support him. And we don't have enough time so I won't bother talking about how disgraceful it was and what a terrible look. I'll save that for Matt Barrie's podcast."

Finebaum hasn't been thrilled with Sanders as of late. The ESPN analyst initially said Sanders could replace Lincoln Riley at USC while talking at SEC media days in July, but has since backtracked and said that neither USC, nor any other major programs should hire him.

"I’m just not impressed with what he’s done,” Finebaum said about Sanders this past Friday on the GoJo and Golic show. “And I started talking about the relevancy of Colorado and his son got very upset, came after me and so did others. And my point is it’s about Deion Sanders, it’s not about Colorado. Colorado is worthless. They don’t mean anything in the world of college football. Deion does and he needs to show something, and unless he does, I wouldn’t suggest anybody like USC hires him.”

All of these conversations about Sanders show just how polarizing he is, considering Colorado went 4-8 last season. It was a step up from the 1-11 record they had with Karl Dorell in 2022, but there isn't a coach in the country who went below .500 this past season who is generating this much buzz.

Colorado opens the 2024 season up with a tough test against FCS power North Dakota, who are ranked as the No. 2 team in the FCS preseason Coaches' Poll . FanDuel currently has the Buffs' win total at 5.5, while ESPN's FPI has them ranked as the No. 36 team in the country ahead of their return to the Big 12.

Related: Greg McElroy Names Overrated Program In Preseason College Football Rankings