Colorado Buffaloes HC Deion Sanders Weighs In on Matthew Sluka, UNLV Situation

Colorado Buffaloes head coach shared his opinion on the NIL situation between quarterback Matthew Sluka and UNLV.

Sep 14, 2024; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders on the sidelines in the first quarter at Sonny Lubick Field at Canvas Stadium. / Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

The NIL situation between quarterback Matthew Sluka and the UNLV Rebels has been the focus of college football since last week.

Despite helping lead the team to an unexpected undefeated start, Sluka opted to redshirt and sit out the remainder of the season. Evidently, it was because of an NIL deal gone wrong.

His father and agent claim that a verbal agreement was made to pay $100,000 to the Holy Cross transfer for going to UNLV. The school’s NIL collective has denied that claim, which has led to him leaving the team.

There have been a lot of opinions shared on the topic.

SEC coaches such as Brian Kelly of the LSU Tigers and Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs have spoken about how things need to change with NIL. This is just the latest example of the negatives that come along with the process.

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis also weighed in. He believes it was wrong for Sluka to bail on his teammates and he should have rolled with the mistake of not having something official in writing.

But, he also called out whoever at UNLV made the promise to the young player and didn’t follow through on the deal.

Another person to share how they feel about the situation is Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. During an appearance on Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, the Hall of Famer placed the blame on the agent involved.

"You know who I have a problem with in this situation? I have a problem with the agent," Sanders said (1:20:40 mark) via Doric Sam of Bleacher Report. "Not the kid, the kid is being a kid, he's doing what he's taught to do because he's in there just trying to play ball. He trusted someone to handle his business, to handle his contract at the collegiate level, and they didn't. And they didn't."

The Colorado head coach knows a thing or two about the NIL landscape. He has his own deals with Blenders Eyewear and helped get a first-of-its-kind NIL deal done with Buffaloes superfan, Peggy Coppom.

His son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, has the highest valuation in collegiate sports. Star two-way player Travis Hunter is tied for No. 3.

Based on the information shared, Sluka received only $3,000 of the $100,000 he was promised. That kind of situation, in Sanders's opinion, can be avoided if the agent does their part more effectively.

"So I don't want to hear nothing from the agent at this point, when I should've been hearing a lot from you early on, in Week 1, Week 2, before we played the last two scrimmages, something," Sanders said. "Because that's just not right, but this is where we are in college football."

Sluka isn’t the first athlete to have issues with unfulfilled NIL promises. He very likely won’t be the last as everyone is still trying to figure out how to navigate such a new concept.