Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Criticizes Deion Sanders' Recruiting Strategy

Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi thinks the way Deion Sanders built his first roster at Colorado is "bad for the sport."

PITTSBURGH -- From the moment he arrived in Boulder and officially took over as head coach of Colorado Buffaloes football, Deion Sanders has executed a ruthlessly pragmatic roster-building strategy that has rubbed many from former Colorado players themselves to head coaches of other programs, like the Pitt Panthers' Pat Narduzzi, the wrong way. 

Narduzzi, entering his ninth season at Pitt, sounded off on Sanders' strategy, which has included initiating a mass exodus of more than 70 players, 51 of which were on scholarship, in an interview with 247Sports at ACC Spring Meetings in Amelia Island, Florida. 

"That's not the way it's meant to be," Narduzzi said. "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. 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."

Sanders has taken advantage of a loophole in NCAA rules that allows him to essentially cut players - removing them from the roster as long as they remain on scholarship. He told both his players and fans this would happen when he took the job in early December and warned any unhappy parties to get a jump on their transfer portal paperwork so that he could begin bringing in his own stellar transfer class, which is 48-players strong and ranks first in the country in 247Sports' national rankings. 

Narduzzi has already clashed with one Pac-12 head coach recently over his use of the transfer portal. Narduzzi publicly and privately called out USC's Lincoln Riley for what he believed was illegal tampering that took place last summer with star receiver Jordan Addison. 

Narduzzi added that he doesn't believe a coach should be allowed to cut scholarship players from a previous coach's roster. Narduzzi is not a fan of that recent rule change.  

"I grew up in a profession that you can't tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability," Narduzzi said. "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. 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."

While Sanders' tactics might be legal under NCAA rules, Narduzzi disagrees with the principle of the thing and believes there's a reason there aren't many other coaches around the country employing similar practices. 

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

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