Deion Sanders Blasted By ACC Head Coach For Approach In The Transfer Portal

Sanders is drawing criticism for Colorado's mass exodus in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

The NCAA Transfer Portal has become a useful tool for teams around the country to add talent and experience to their rosters while giving players an opportunity to find playing time elsewhere. 

READ MORE: Florida State Adding Defensive Coach To Staff With NFL, P5 Experience

Ahead of his debut season as a head coach at the P5 level with Colorado, Deion Sanders has expedited the use of the portal in a way we've never seen before. Since December, the Buffaloes have had over 50 players transfer from the program. 

That includes a mass exodus of 43 scholarship players since the team's spring game on April 15. On the flip side, the Buffaloes have added at least 42 players from the portal to replenish the losses. Five of those transfers suited up for Florida State last year (Derrick McLendon, Brendan Gant, Omarion Cooper, Travis Jay, Bishop Thomas).

Sanders is drawing criticism for Colorado's approach in the portal and not all of the noise is coming from behind closed doors.

During the ACC's spring meetings last week, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi said he disagrees with Sanders' 'whole process' during an interview with Brandon Marcello of 247Sports.

"That's not the way it's meant to be. 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," Narduzzi said according to Marcello. "The reflection 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."

"He's not the only new head coach in college football. You hear about that anywhere else? No," Narduzzi added.

Narduzzi reflected on his own journey to his current position with the Panthers. He says that he didn't remove a single member of the team's roster upon his arrival in 2015. Pittsburgh ended up going 8-5 with an appearance in the Military Bowl during Narduzzi's first season with the program.

"I grew up in a profession that you can't tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability. I think he'll be shocked that he probably had some pretty good football players in that room. When I got to Pitt back in 2015, I didn't kick anybody off. Zero," Narduzzi said. "Those are your guys. When you become a head coach you inherit that team and you coach that team. If someone wants to leave, that's great. You don't kick them out. I disagree with that whole process. That's not why I got in the game."

It remains to be seen how this roster reconstruction will work out for Sanders and Colorado. A team of nearly entirely new faces won't have a ton of practice time together before taking the field against TCU on September 2. The Buffaloes have plenty of talented incoming transfers such as quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter.

Pittsburgh is optimistic ahead of the 2023 season despite losing a ton of pieces on both sides of the ball. The Seminoles will travel to face off with the Panthers on November 4. FSU hasn't played at Pitt since 2013, the same year that the program went on to win the final BCS National Championship.

READ MORE: Three Exciting Home Matchups For FSU Football In 2023

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