Deion Sanders on transfer portal exodus: ‘It don’t just happen, you make it happen’
Colorado has now officially had over 50 players enter the NCAA transfer portal just under five months into the tenure of new head coach Deion Sanders. Many were puzzled about the number of players entering the portal following the Buffaloes’ spring game. But on the ‘Pat McAfee Show’, Coach Prime revealed that the mass exodus is not by mistake, but an intentional roster reconstruction move on his end.
“You’ve got to be crazy to think this just happens,” said Sanders. “It don’t just happen, you make it happen. You know what you want. I don’t pull up – I can’t stand people who pull up through a drive thru and don’t know what they want – before I get there, I know what I want. I’m not just making this stuff up as we go. We know what we want, and I don’t concede. I don’t settle. I know what I want and I know what I’m gonna get. We don’t settle.”
Multiple sources have revealed that Sanders has been cutting players from his program since Colorado’s spring game, a move not commonly seen in the college football landscape that more so reflects a professional sports franchise.
One basis of Sanders’ roster rebuild is the competitiveness of his team, as McAfee referenced a story where Sanders asked the running back room who would carry the ball for him on 4th and 1 and got no replies from any players.
“Nobody says nothing,” said Sanders. “We had one-on-ones at practice, Travis (Hunter) and Jimmy (Horn Jr.) is talking junk to the DBs and nobody said nothing back. How? We’ve got one-on-one, we’ve got two dawg wide receivers talking junk, and ain’t nobody said nothing back.”
Sanders was notoriously one of the biggest trash talkers the game of football has ever seen, but said it’s not all about that, elaborating on the importance of competitiveness and the desire to be successful.
“I just want you to compete,” said Sanders. “Give it your best and work your hardest. You have a dream of taking care of momma, or retiring your dad, or taking care of the family, and you’re not investing in it the way that you should if that’s your dream. I’m not built like that, man. Where we come from you want it, you got to have it. It’s no if, ands, buts about it. Your goal and your vision and your desire for what you want has to line up like like-minded people that I need.”
Apparently, this mindset goes beyond the white lines, as Sanders is shaking up the program and seemingly ridding it of players that don’t align with his new culture or meet his standards.
“Not only on the football field, in the whole program. When you’ve lost this long, there’s a spirit of just complacency amongst the building. And I don’t play that. I don’t deal with that. I’m not complacent, I’m not idle-minded, I’m a mover, I’m a shaker. If I sit still too long I’m gonna fall asleep. I’ve got to move, I’ve got to go get it. That’s the way I live. And I want players of that mindset and that thought process as well.”
Sanders’ also revealed on McAfee’s show that he already knows which incoming players will join the Colorado team soon, as Coach Prime’s rebuild of the program will likely continue to be one of the most closely followed stories in college football this offseason.