ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt Was Spot On About Deion Sanders’ Social Media Spat Over Colorado Transfers

Deion Sanders and the Colorado football program have made headlines once again this week. Unfortunately, they aren’t centered on new recruits committing to the Buffaloes or on-field developments ahead of a critical 2024 season. Instead, this week’s news cycle has been punctuated by the social media back-and-forth between Coach Prime, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and other Colorado players, and a number of players who have left the program.

The drama hasn’t reflected well on anyone, and the online beefs have looked especially bad for Sanders, whose program made real progress in year one but still has plenty to prove. On Wednesday night, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt addressed the situation in his “One Big Thing” segment on SportsCenter . He acknowledged it can be difficult to avoid getting dragged into such spats, but he stated that someone in Sanders’ position of authority should be above the fray.

“It’s just the tone of the comments in response that feels so small. The mean-spiritedness of it all,” Van Pelt said. “As a guy who used to have to endure segments on radio, where we recounted my Twitter beefs, I understand how difficult it is to do what people suggest those in the public eye should do: just ignore the noise. Sometimes it’s hard, though, to hold your tongue. However, as the leader of a program looking to ascend, I don’t think that any of this serves to elevate.”

The situation began on Monday, when The Athletic posted a story recounting the meeting in which Sanders encouraged defensive back Xavier Smith and another DB to transfer following spring football in 2023.

“I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes. Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me.”

Smith said that during the spring, when players who didn’t transfer out after Sanders’ initial arrival tried to prove themselves, the coach “was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves.”

Shedeur Sanders responded to the story , saying that he didn’t remember Smith at Colorado, and that “Bro had to be very mid at best.”

Smith went on to Austin Peay, where he earned FCS freshman All-America honors, and he later followed coach Scotty Waldren to UTEP. Waldren later took to social media to defend his player after Shedeur’s message.

Colorado wide receiver Kaleb Mathis and Austin Peay defensive back Jaheim Ward—both role players for their respective programs—then traded barbs following Shedeur’s tweet about Smith, eventually drawing Deion Sanders himself into the fray.

After another user criticized Shedeur, Deion Sanders responded once again, defending his son as a future “top 5 pick.”

Sanders has done things his way, for better or worse, since taking over at Colorado. He was incredibly open about overhauling the roster from the first day he stepped foot in Boulder, bragging about bringing “Louis (Vuitton)” luggage—a reference to incoming transfers such as Shedeur and former five-star athlete Travis Hunter, a two-way standout for Sanders at Jackson State and now Colorado. That meeting, like many that followed, was recorded and posted to social media. Another transfer who spoke to The Athletic , wide receiver Chase Sowell, said that the program “kinda felt like a reality TV show.”

Fifty-three Colorado players subsequently entered the transfer portal, which fielded effectively an entirely new roster last fall.

The team improved from 1–11 in ’22 to 4–8 in ’23, opening the season with wins over TCU, which was fresh off a national championship game appearance, Nebraska and Colorado State before stumbling to a 1–8 finish. The Buffaloes were undoubtedly more talented and competitive after Sanders’ overhaul, but this offseason has shown that it wasn’t a one-time deal.

The transfer portal cuts both ways, and Colorado has another 35 players entering the program as transfers, but the Buffs also are losing 41 players, including a number of starters from the ’23 team. At the same time, the program has just 12 traditional high school players set to join the program as members of the class of 2024, per 247Sports , and has three 2025 recruits committed, fewer than all but five Big 12 programs. Sanders admits he has completely opted out of making visits to recruits , something basically unheard of in major college football.

These concerns may be moot in just a few months, if the Colorado program makes another big step forward, competes with the class of the Big 12 and reaches its first bowl game since 2020. However, it’s fair to wonder about Sanders’ tactics given the lack of continuity from last year and his general approach to roster management.

In his segment, Van Pelt raised a strong point: sometimes those who point out a 4–8 record aren’t being “haters,” they’re merely stating facts. As Bill Parcells famously said, “You are what your record says you are.”

Sanders may well be an innovator as a college football coach, but he won’t earn that reputation until his team wins. In the meantime, engaging in social media fights with former players and anonymous fans doesn’t serve to elevate the program at all. Instead, it makes everyone involved look petty and unfocused on the task at hand.

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