Big man on campus: Sapp now a grad assistant for Buffs

Deion Sanders hires fellow Hall of Famer for his coaching staff.

Hall of Fame defensive lineman Warren Sapp is headed back to the classroom in order to be more of a hands-on coach for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Deion Sanders added Sapp, 51, to the staff as a graduate assistant, which paves the way for him to work on the field with the team. Sapp, a former University of Miami and NFL standout, has enrolled in graduate level continuing education classes. As a graduate assistant, Sapp is not allowed to contact or evaluate recruits off campus.

“We’re building mansions here,” Sapp said to the team when he was introduced by Sanders to the group in a video posted on YouTube. “That’s why I’m here, to help you build your mansion.”

Sapp spent 13 seasons in the NFL with Tampa Bay and the Oakland Raiders. Sapp was the 1999 AP defensive player of the year and won a Super Bowl title with the Bucs in the 2002 season.

Sapp, who finished his career with 96½ sacks, is looking forward to working alongside Sanders and the rest of the staff.

“I’ve been a Deion Sanders fan since I was 12 years old,” Sapp said in the video posted through “Well Off Media,” which is run by Deion Sanders Jr. “We’re all here for the man. Let’s go ride — championship time.”

In 2015, Sapp took a plea deal that spared him jail time in a Las Vegas criminal case involving a scuffle with his former girlfriend at a casino hotel swimming pool. The incident came a few months after Sapp was fired as an analyst for the NFL Network following his arrest in Phoenix for assaulting and soliciting a prostitute during Super Bowl weekend. He pleaded guilty to both charges, and the solicitation charge was dropped after he completed a diversion program.

“Warren Sapp successfully completed all of the necessary steps required of anyone who is employed at CU Boulder, including a background check,” Colorado said in a statement issued to The Associated Press. “Furthermore, athletic director Rick George personally met with Warren to clearly articulate the department’s standards and expectations, to which he acknowledged and agreed.”

Deion Sanders lauded Sapp’s pedigree — pointing out he had a NFL Hall of Fame jacket, too — and his trash-talk game.

“That’s how we met, talking junk,” Sanders said to the team.

Sanders has changed his coaching staff following a 4-8 showing in his first season at Colorado. He added Robert Livingston, who had been safeties coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, as defensive coordinator and brought in Phil Loadholt, who spent the past two seasons as an analyst at Oklahoma, to coach a shaky offensive line to better protect his quarterback son, Shedeur Sanders. He is sticking with Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator after Shurmur took over play-calling duties during the season last fall.

Colorado’s spring game is April 27. It will be aired on the Pac-12 Network, and followed that night by a concert featuring Lil Wayne at CU Events Center.

The Buffaloes are moving from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 this summer.

ALEX BRANDON/AP FILE Warren Sapp was a “guest coach” for the NFL’s Commanders their past two training camps. He said he has been a fan of Deion Sanders (like Sapp, a Florida native) since he was 12 years old.