“We Messed Up”: Deion Sanders Shares Bold Truth About Players Who Left Colorado Program

One of the biggest talking points around Coach Deion Sanders has been the mass exodus of 48 student-athletes from CU Buffs to the portal. The shocking numbers got worse when one of the rejected students Xavier Smith accused Sanders of ignoring him and not even giving him a chance before releasing him. This exposé has made many question the coaching philosophy of Deion Sanders. Hence in his latest interview, he shared the truth about the rejected players and his coaching style.

Appearing on ‘Thee Pre Game Network Show’, Coach Deion revealed that he and his staff have always given individual attention to all the players. The micro-management from Coach Prime’s team saw them also customize plans and lessons as per the student to give them the best opportunity possible.

“I’m sitting in the meeting rooms and I watch the meetings and I watch what goes on. I watch how they’re teaching. I watch how they’re articulating because this kid, you got to yell at him, this kid, you got to whisper to him, this kid, you just got to look at him, this kid, you got to take the time; I pull him and show him. It’s so many different young men in this building that you got to find a way to get to him.” 

 

Sanders revealed that this method allowed them to know and retain the best. However, some players just couldn’t cooperate or had enough quality after going through the one-on-one assessment. Hence they were released from the program. Despite the players’ inability to fit in, Coach Sanders took the blame on himself and his team. Coach Prime believed he messed up because he couldn’t prepare or put enough time into making them fit enough.

“And prayerfully, we could get to all of them and help them in some facet of life as well as football. Now there are some that you can try all you want man and that’s on us because we messed up okay? Because you ain’t built for us. You may be built for somebody else, but you’re just not built for us.“

While Sanders took the blame on himself, it also needs to be understood that these are players with expensive NIL deals. A certain standard is thus expected of them. Moreover, with how competitive the college football landscape is, there’s a limit to how much energy one can expend on such players.

“I Ain’t Got Time” – Coach Deion Sanders Reveals Why He Cut Off Some Players From The Program

The allure of top universities is the high standards of their batch. To be the best, you need to be around and learn from the best. Using the adage of a rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel might be a bit harsh, but it is undeniable that players with attitude issues and lesser skill will only hamper the overall standard of the team.

Coach Prime understands this. Hence to protect and guide his best performing athletes, he took the harsh call of releasing every player who could be dysfunctional or disruptive to the team. Dysfunction and disruption are two things that Coach Prime cannot tolerate and thus came the mass exodus.

“God has blessed me to see around the corner okay because what I see is dysfunction and disruption and I can’t have both. I don’t really don’t want one of them or the two either but I can’t have both. So not only are you dysfunctional, but you’re disrupting this meeting. You’re disrupting this group of young men, you’re disrupting this young man, I can’t have that.”

To put it simply, if you are affecting the team negatively, you will be out of Coach Sanders’ team because the competitive nature of the game doesn’t give him enough time to fix you.