Colorado football’s social media beef, plus revisiting transfer portal predictions

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After today’s newsletter, I’m off to vacation! But first, we have to discuss some very important social media drama …

Deion Drama

Clearing up Colorado roster reset

A story this week from The Athletic detailed the aftermath of Colorado’s roster reset last year, and it’s time to clear up some of the response that followed.

What happened? By the end of Colorado’s spring last year — the first under Deion Sanders — 53 scholarship players transferred out of Boulder. New coaches pushing underperforming players to pursue other opportunities is far from unique, but heads turned when Colorado dumped 20 players less than 24 hours after its ESPN-televised spring game. One year later, The Athletic’s Max Olson contacted some of the players who left Boulder that spring to hear about their experiences.

Since then … Colorado players took to social media to defend their coach. Posts from Sanders and his son, Shedeur, gained attention as they seemingly mocked the players pushed out of Colorado’s program and added fire to a heated conversation about roster management in college football.

Shedeur, Colorado’s starting quarterback, posted an excerpt of The Athletic’s story with quotes from former Buffaloes player Xavier Smith (now at UTEP) saying he didn’t, “even remember him” and adding, “Bro had to be very mid at best.”Deion shared the stats of Austin Peay DB Jaheim Ward, adding an apparently mocking comment: “Lawd Jesus.” Ward never played at Colorado but responded to a since-deleted post from Colorado WR Kaleb Mathis of him beating Ward in a drill.

Why did this happen?

I brought in senior writer Nicole Auerbach to answer a couple of questions about what we’ve seen these past few days.

Why did the conversation around this story motivate Shedeur and Deion to get involved so publicly?

Nicole: I’m not sure what Shedeur and Deion thought they were doing with their comments, but they certainly extended the news cycle by a good two days. I also don’t think their stance will help attract talent to Boulder. Maybe Deion doesn’t think that matters and that Coach Prime gets the type of player who wants to be coached by Coach Prime. But being a college football coach is about more than just telling players what to do and what not to do on the field. It’s supposed to be about helping young men grow up during some especially formative years. It’s not supposed to be about the coach publicizing how he can humiliate those players, be it in a videotaped team meeting or by mocking the stat line of a player on social media.

It’s not shocking that these tweets ignited a firestorm because this isn’t the way we see coaches behave publicly. We know players get cut. We know that the process can be difficult. But you don’t see NFL GMs openly insulting the rosters they inherited or head coaches mocking players after they cut them. Especially coming off a four-win campaign.

It’s no secret how Colorado will play and carry itself under Deion anymore. What does that mean for how the team will be received this season?

Nicole: John Calipari always used to say that Kentucky was everyone’s Super Bowl. That was because the Cats are a basketball blue blood, and he had teams that were expected to be national title contenders on an annual basis. Now, Colorado will be the “Super Bowl” for every team on the Buffs’ schedule this fall. You don’t think North Dakota State will want to crush Colorado after all the offseason chatter? Or that Nebraska will want revenge for the loss last year? Same with Colorado State? I’m guessing the Big 12 coaches will privately agree with what we heard from Dan Lanning last year — that they care more about fighting for wins than clicks. And they’ll want to quiet this talk just like Lanning’s Ducks did.

Deion has said that he doesn’t mind having haters. He’ll probably have more now, after the fascination with his program-building has given way to another offseason spent insulting college players who don’t have the last name of Sanders.

Will Howard transferred to Ohio State after spending four seasons at Kansas State. (Barbara J. Perenic / USA Today)

Portal Predictions Gone Wrong

… but some were right!

With the spring transfer portal window officially closed it’s time to look back at the predictions we made for portal movement at the beginning of the cycle.

Prediction 1: I predicted the spring window would include a lot of QB movement. Specifically, I said at least one of Ohio State’s five QBs would enter the portal and Sherrone Moore would go shopping for a starting QB at Michigan. Well, no QB departed the Buckeyes. Ohio State writer Cameron Teague Robinson still expects Kansas State transfer Will Howard to be named the starter, but it looks like this QB competition with Devin Brown isn’t over yet. Michigan did not add a transfer QB but could still do so in the summer. Verdict: Incorrect

Prediction 2: Senior writer Max Olson predicted we would see more players available in this year’s spring cycle than last year’s. More than 900 FBS scholarship players entered the portal this April, crashing records with more than 2,600 players entering the portal in the entire 2023-24 cycle. Verdict: Correct

Prediction 3: Senior writer Chris Vannini predicted there would be several notable players entering the transfer portal for the second time this offseason. We expected this uptick with the NCAA now allowing repeat transfers immediate eligibility as long as they meet existing academic requirements. More than 25 percent of players who entered the portal in the spring cycle were repeat transfers. Verdict: Correct

Prediction 4: Editor Daniel Shirely predicted a slow and consistent transfer window. But by 10:30 a.m. ET on April 16, 90 scholarship players were already in the portal, tying the Day 1 total from 2023. More than 200 players entered the portal by the end of Day 1. So although Daniel’s prediction may have played out with a fairly slow roll the rest of the window, we have to be a harsh judge here. Verdict: Incorrect

Quick Snaps

New coaches at Michigan State, Indiana and Washington dealt with the most departures to the transfer portal this spring among Big Ten teams (48, 44, 34, respectively). Scott Dochterman updates us on the Big Ten’s new coaches, QB competitions and more today.

What’s the latest in the ACC vs. FSU and Clemson? Chris Vannini writes about the courtroom clash that is at the center of future realignment.

Ari Wasserman has a fascinating profile story today on a 5-foot-6, 160-pound walk-on at Texas A&M who wouldn’t stop until he made the team. Sam Salz’s story is worth your time today.

How is new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster approaching recruiting? For the Bruins, it’s about time for a new era.

You can buy tickets to every college football game here.

(Top photo of Deion Sanders: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)