Deion Sanders doesn’t seem like the kind of head coach who needs to hide his intentions or work outside of the legal framework of NCAA rules to accomplish his recruiting goals.
In fact, the media scrutiny that has followed Deion to Boulder has made it impossible for him to go to the bathroom without it being reported.
That’s why he stays ahead of the game,
by self-reporting all of the violations by the university to the NCAA.
Deion Sanders Changes Recruiting Game
What Deion has done is change the recruiting game with his celebrity, personality, high-volume use of social media to promote his program, and his needs at certain positions. He’s giving the world an in-depth look into the man and college football journey that has captivated the sport and attracted fringe college football fans.
The NCAA, the governing body that controls the college landscape, has been keeping a close eye on Coach Prime. After they cashed all of the checks that made their way into the NCAA treasure chest thanks to the revenue-generating machine that star power like Deion Sanders brings to college athletics, the organization that NBA analyst Kenny Smith once accused of creating a “predatorial environment,” is back in the news. Prime Time and Colorado reported 11 minor violations cited by the collegiate oversight committee last year.
Six of them were predictably related to the use of social media, which shows just how outdated the NCAA continues to be.
As first reported by USA TODAY, none of the violations carried harsh penalties, but breaking them down shows just how ridiculous the NCAA can be and the level of control the NCAA is still trying to hold over coaches and players, interaction with recruits and even NILs, in this swifty-evolving pay-to-play culture.
It reeks of desperation by the NCAA that any of these actions should even be under violation.
Who are the people stalking these social media pages waiting for someone to violate a rule? Sounds like a bummer of a job. The enthusiastic dream-obliteraters in these positions must never be the most popular person at a party.
December 2022
Violation 1: Coach Prime’s social team posted an image depicting a spreadsheet of unsigned recruits. The post was deleted after 10 minutes.
Violation 2: A high school coach sent a Colorado staff member a transcript for a player who had not yet entered the transfer portal. Sanders and his staff stopped pursuing the player after discovering.
January 2023
Violation 3: Coach Prime reposted an Instagram video depicting voluntary team workouts. The clip was pulled 20 minutes later.
Violation 4: A recruit identified by USA Today as cornerback Cormani McClain was featured in a photo “while wearing a uniform on the field, lined up across a coaching staff member (Sanders),” a violation of the ban on game day simulations.
Violation 5: A website posted the McClain picture to social media, a second violation stemming from the moment with Coach Prime.
May 2023
Violation 6: Colorado hosted players who were not active members of the transfer portal at a summer camp. The violation led to a two-week recruiting ban in June.
Violation 7: Sanders went live on Instagram with former Buffs recruit Aaron Butler as a featured participant in the camp. Butler would commit to Colorado and later flip to Texas.
Violation 8: Colorado assistant coach Andre Hart took a picture with a recruit, who posted it to social media “prior to the first permissible date to have in-person contact.”
August 2023
Violation 9: Colorado held a yoga session led by an intern that was not one of the team’s five declared strength and conditioning coaches, violating NCAA staffing limits.
September 2023
Violation 10: A recruit on an unofficial visit gained impermissible access to a premium seating area at CU’s game vs. USC.
October 2023
Violation 11: Colorado alum Matt McChesney and his son, who wasn’t enrolled in high school and was called a class of 2028 recruit by the NCAA, were present for a pregame locker room speech. McChesney’s son ran behind Ralphie and the team before the Stanford game. It violated the ban on “game day situations.”
Should Colorado Be Concerned About NCAA Violations?
Photos, unauthorized yoga sessions. Sounds like that underhanded scoundrel Coach Prime is trying to break every rule in the book, huh?
Jokes aside, all of these infractions appear to be a result of the NCAA trying to figure out ways to control social media posts and the expanding leeway that head coaches have in recruiting because of a popping transfer portal, NIL deals and social media, which is how everyone communicates.
Controlling individual social media accounts for thousands of student-athletes and tracking every photo, is never going to work. While these minor infractions won’t make or break organizations, too many of them can hurt your reputation and ability to recruit in the short term.
The NCAA is also trying to figure out the best method of intimidation to use with head coaches like Prime, who has a worldwide celebrity and a net worth of more than $50 million stalking the sidelines, and players who are getting between $500,000 and $3 million to sign with a school.
Because Prime has an endless well of cash and very talented kids he rolls as a unit. His oldest son, Deion Sanders Jr., handles the team’s social media and he is very creative, dedicated and aggressive with his desire to capture great footage and provide it to the people.
To be fair, kicking up a fuss about a recruit wanting to take a picture with an NFL legend and two-sport icon is misfocused energy. All it really does is help promote college football.
NCAA Fake Outrage Must Stop
High school and college players are not trying to take photos with Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, Matt Campbell at Iowa State or Kalen DeBoer, the newly appointed King of Alabama football. No matter how good their programs are, they can’t outshine Prime, who’s “easy to find.”
Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Klatt once called the NCAA, “the worst organization” he can think of. The former Colorado alum said this almost a decade ago, and many will tell you it still applies today.
“Their mission statement is to be there for the well-being of the student-athlete, to protect the student-athlete,” said Klatt. “What it’s morphed into is a governing body that has rules and regulations that are specifically to contain the student athlete.”
Deion Sanders understands the game and he’s been very good at making sure the legalities are in order. He’s not a head coach who will be caught sleeping, but the energy and resources the NCAA puts towards these violations by Colorado could be better served focusing on the welfare of the student athletes across the country.
