Coaches’ Fisticuffs Reveal More of ‘Fight Club’ Culture at Colorado Under Deion Sanders

[Editor’s note: 3 p.m. ET, Sept. 4. This article has been corrected to delete a reference to Deion Sanders’ speaking during a video of the fight between Trevor Reilly and Josh Jynes.]

The 1999 movie “Fight Club” told a story of an underground society of physical combatants whose most important rule was secrecy. “The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club,” main character Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, famously says in the film.

That edict apparently does not apply within the University of Colorado football program, which multiple sources allege fosters a culture of guns and in-house fighting under the watch of head coach Deion Sanders.

In a recent interview with Athlon Sports’ Colorado Buffaloes publisher Steve Corder, ex-Buffaloes assistant coach Trevor Reilly revealed he got into a fistfight on campus with one of his former peers shortly after tendering his resignation from the program in early August. Video of the incident between Reilly and graduate assistant Josh Jynes was captured by security cameras and viewed by Athlon. In the video, a giddy Buffaloes assistant coach Warren Sapp narrates the incident, making light of the situation by providing blow-by-blow commentary.

At the end of the video, after players had broken up the fight, Sapp concludes, “Of course we’re watching this. What else are we supposed to do other than watch it?” It’s unclear whether the incident, involving a state employee and a former co-worker, was reported to university authorities or human resources.

The University of Colorado is a public institute. As such, Sanders could be disciplined or fired by the university for “Failing to immediately report to the Athletics Director serious student-athlete or Football staff misconduct Sanders knew or should have known about,” according to his contract.

“The fight happened in front of another coach,” Reilly told Athlon. “I mean that goes back to basically anything that happens, everybody’s an employee of the state. That’s why I keep saying it. Who are we hiding from? You don’t hide. The cover-up is worse than the crime. ...

“You can look at the surveillance tape. It’s at the school. It’s irrelevant how we got the tape. I’m not covering up s---, man. I’m not. I won’t speak on a few things but I’m not covering up anything.”

A source close to the program told Athlon that the August incident was not the first altercation between Reilly and Jynes, who allegedly almost came to blows in the Buffaloes weight room earlier this year.

Athlon Sports emailed the Colorado athletic department Wednesday morning seeking comment.

Athlon previously reported allegations of pervasive bullying and fighting within the Buffaloes program, including the alleged involvement of one of Sanders’ sons, safety Shilo Sanders.

“It’s like a real-life Grand Theft Auto video game,” a former player said. “There are many distractions with fights, guns, and money floating around. The environment is unlike any I’ve come from before.”

Sapp, a former NFL star, was a controversial offseason hire, owing to previous brushes with the law. In 2015, was fired from his broadcasting job with NFL Network after being arrested for solicitation of a prostitute followed by assault. That charge ultimately was dropped . But later the same year, he pleaded guilty to domestic violence .

A culture of proving one’s manhood to the team is the reasoning offered to explain a fight between offensive linemen Jordan Seaton and Savion Washington, which occurred before Washington entered the transfer portal and eventually transferred to Syracuse. The account was confirmed by several former players.

That incident apparently happened just days after cornerback Isreal Solomon allegedly was jumped by five teammates and sucker-punched by wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. Solomon, who was recovering from surgery, was clad in a yellow no-contact jersey during the incident. Horn clearly stepped in to punch Solomon during a video of the incident obtained by Athlon. Solomon is no longer with the Buffaloes program.

Approximately two weeks after that, wide receiver Kaleb Mathis allegedly assaulted backup quarterback Colton Allen over a $10,000 gambling debt. Allen’s father told Athlon he is aware of the fight but declined to discuss the incident further.

Shilo Sanders has been implicated in multiple fights since filing for bankruptcy last October in a case stemming from an alleged assault when he was 15 . A parent of a current Buffaloes player confirmed to Athlon that Shilo Sanders was involved in two physical incidents with teammates.

“Shilo punched two players in the face during meetings with no repercussions because they dared to criticize him,” the source said via text message. “One of those was after a special teams drill where it was supposed to be a walk-through, and Shilo ran full speed and struck a teammate. There was a fight in the field. Then when they watched it back during a meeting, Reilly pointed it out and said we can’t do this to our teammates. Anthony Hankerson allegedly told Shilo he was wrong, and that’s when Sanders got up and punched him in the face.”

Reilly confirmed the incident to Athlon.

The Reilly-Jynes fight is the seventh violent incident at Colorado during Deion Sanders’ tenure to be described by witnesses to Athlon Sports.