Power Five Pitt coach rips Deion’s use of transfer portal

Deion Sanders has been making drastic changes at Colorado, but one Power Five coach is calling the decisions “bad” for college football.

Since taking over as the head coach of the Buffaloes in December, “Coach Prime” has completely overhauled the roster of a team that went 1- 11, bringing in at least 42 scholarship players while signing top recruits.

But new players coming has resulted in a mass exodus of returning players, something Sanders wasn’t ashamed to admit would happen early in his tenure and continued to grow following the team’s spring game in April, resulting in a reported 70 players gone in less than six months.

The roster overhaul has been met with criticism, including from Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi, who told 247Sports he opposed how Sanders has used the transfer portal. Colorado has the No. 1 recruiting class of transfers for 2023, according to 247Sports.

“That’s not the way it’s meant to be,” Narduzzi said. “That’s not what the rule intended to be. It was not to overhaul your roster. We’ll see how it works out, but that, to me, looks bad on college football coaches across the country.

“The reflection is on one guy right now, but when you look at it overall − those kids that have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and goals in life − I don’t know how many of those 70 that left really wanted to leave or they were kicked in the butt to get out.”

Several former Colorado players have spoken about why they are no longer with the team, including those who said they didn’t get a chance or were pushed out. Narduzzi said he was hired as the Panthers coach in 2015 and he didn’t kick any players off the team.

“I grew up in a profession that you can’t tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability,” Narduzzi said. “When you become a head coach you inherit that team and you coach that team.”

Sanders