Since his hiring in late 2022, Deion Sanders has brought significant energy to the Colorado football program, leading a remarkable transformation.
Despite finishing 4–8 in the ’23 season, Sanders and his staff have overhauled the roster, making it more competitive than the previous season when the team won only one game.
Sanders’s aggressive recruiting approach, particularly in the transfer portal, has garnered attention, but it has also resulted in 11 minor violations for Colorado, as reported by USA Today. These violations, all self-reported by the school, are common in top college football programs and usually do not lead to significant disciplinary action by the NCAA.
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The violations primarily involve recruiting activities on campus and social media. A summary of the 11 violations includes instances such as:
- In December ’22, Sanders’s social team posted a picture of an unsigned recruits’ spreadsheet, which was deleted after 10 minutes.
- The same month, a high school coach sent Colorado’s staff a transcript for a player not in the transfer portal, leading the school to stop recruiting the player.
- Sanders reposted an Instagram video showing voluntary team workouts in January ’23, live for about 20 minutes before being removed.
- In the same month, a recruit, identified as cornerback Cormani McClain, was featured in a picture on the field, violating the ban on “gameday simulations.”
- A website posting the McClain picture to social media constituted a second violation.
- Players not in the transfer portal attended a Colorado camp open to high school and transfer recruits in May, resulting in a two-week recruiting ban.
- Sanders featured a recruit, identified as Aaron Butler, in an Instagram Live session in May. Butler committed to Colorado but later flipped to Texas.
- In the same month, linebackers coach Andre’ Hart took a picture with a recruit, posted on social media before the first permissible date for in-person contact.
- In August, Colorado held a team-wide yoga session led by an intern, violating NCAA staffing limits.
- A recruit gained impermissible access to a premium seating area during an unofficial visit to the Buffaloes’ game against USC.
- Former Colorado player Matt McChesney and his son, a 2028 recruit, were present for a pregame locker room speech and the October game against Stanford, violating the ban on “gameday situations.”
Despite these minor violations, Colorado’s recruiting momentum remains strong.
The 2024 high school class includes top offensive lineman Jordan Seaton, addressing the team’s front line struggles in ’23. The Buffaloes have also secured a highly ranked group of transfers from notable programs like Alabama, Houston, Kentucky, LSU, Oklahoma State, and TCU.