Deion Sanders Calling Out Multiple Reporters At Press Conference Gives Off Disaster Vibes Around Buffaloes Program

This just in: It’s OK to change one’s opinions or hot takes on sports when additional information is accrued. For instance, how many of y’all thought at this time last year that Jordan Love would become the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history? Or even halfway through the 2023 NFL season for that matter?

Such is the point I’m trying to drive home when I say that, when it comes to Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes football program, I fully dug it for a while. The start to last year was electrifying. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter looked like early Heisman Trophy contenders. Coach Prime’s audacious bravado and unprecedented, transfer portal-fueled roster turnover seized the attention of the entire college football-loving country.

What was once a seemingly cutting-edge operation with old-school principles at its core has now soured into more of a toxic outfit that’s rough around the edges, contentious at every turn, and in danger of serious peril. Whether it’s next season once Shedeur and Hunter flee to the NFL, or the house of cards comes crashing down during the 2024 campaign, it sure feels like Deion’s reign in Boulder is going south in a hurry.

Deion’s transparency and at times adversarial relationship with the media was endearing when Colorado got off to a 3-0 start. Not so much when they lost seven of their next eight and dismaying insider reports painted a Dorian Gray-esque portrait of what the Buffaloes program is really like behind the scenes.

Safe to say Deion has had it up to here with negative media coverage, as he went on the offensive in Friday’s presser. First, there was a testy exchange with Denver Post columnist Sean Keener:

Then we had an outright refusal to answer any questions from CBS Sports, whose brand is largely responsible for college football TV coverage nationwide.

Oh yeah, for good measure, Deion fired shots at Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, who doesn’t have the background as a legendary football player to lord over his young men as leverage to carry himself however he wants, never mind the innate recruiting advantages that come with that.

…And that last point isn’t to diminish Deion. He earned the playing career he had. The combination of all-time athletic talent and his work ethic led him to be arguably the greatest cornerback in the history of football.

That’s also where the root of Colorado’s toxicity comes from. Deion can’t identify with anyone who isn’t ready to win immediately. He doesn’t seem built for a slow-burn rebuild of a previously one-win college football program. He’s said repeatedly that the NFL isn’t a good fit for him, yet I think his style would fare far better at the professional level.

Why do I think this beyond my own outsider admittedly loose conjecture? Just look at how he and his sons have treated others at Colorado. Whether it’s Deion and Shedeur bashing players who transferred after the fact, Hunter publicly calling out the Buffaloes’ o-line, or this dismaying report from Athlon Sports about Shilo Sanders slapping 5-star cornerback recruit Cormani McClain — shocker, he transferred to Florida — it’s all adding up in a hurry.

Is anyone really going to stand up to Coach Prime anyway? No. That’s especially so with Shedeur as one of the key leaders on the team, along with Hunter, a transcendent talent who Deion thinks of like a son.

Deion would call all of this overblown, or lament how soft the current generation is. Anyone who has constructive criticism is dismissed as a nobody. And again, that’s Deion’s right to take on that role of the resident a**hole at Colorado. That doesn’t mean it’s right, but he’s achieved so much in sports that he can do whatever the hell he wants and is accountable to absolutely nobody.

Doesn’t sound like a recipe for sustainable coaching success, but hey, what do I know? I’m a nobody compared to Deion Sanders. Unfortunately, that’s how he treats a lot of people in his orbit. Seldom does that end super well for anyone involved.