Despite being blocked some honest CF analysts like Jason Whitlock and Mike Farrell remain unafraid to share their honest opinions when it comes to Coach Prime and Colorado. While Coach Sanders is highly respected for his coaching legacy in Colorado, last week’s revelations by Xavier Smith and a source showed an unexpected side of him as head coach: the 2023 brutal roster change at CU.
Although many supported the act, especially given the team’s need for a complete overhaul after a dismal 1-11 season, with On3’s JD Pickell stating, “College football isn’t supposed to be fair,” many other analysts including Farrell and Whitlock disagree. Together, they believe Coach Sanders’ lack of compassion led to the unfortunate exits of two players from Colorado—it was the reason behind him getting rid of Smith from the program in 2023 and a year later, resulted in losing 5-star CB Cormani McClain.
On the May 4th episode of “Fearless with Jason Whitlock”, when Jason Whitlock asked if Sanders’ coaching methods were revolutionary, Farrell offered his perspective. “Traditionally, you have to build a culture and you have to build from the ground up. Now, the transfer portal has been a tremendous supplement to high school football recruiting,” Farrell remarked, “the problem I have is when you get rid of 80% of your roster and bring in new players… You can’t do that every year. There’s also not a culture being established where the guys who have been there for a while can tell the younger guys what’s going on.”
While Farrell is not opposed to Deion Sanders’ decision to overhaul his roster, he believes that Sanders should show more compassion and consideration while letting the young athletes go. Farrell suggested, “I just know that if you’re gonna purge your roster, do it with a little bit more graciousness. If that’s the new way, great. I don’t think it is. I really don’t believe that you can build that way,” further added Farrell.
Furthermore, Farrell pointed out that Deion Sanders’ inability to build a culture has made the young recruits feel unwelcome and sometimes they are even disrespected by teammates, just as Shedeur did a few days ago.
No Culture of Respect at Colorado Under Coach Prime
According to Farrell, there is a significant cultural difference at the University of Colorado under Coach Prime compared to powerhouse programs like Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia. “At Alabama and Georgia, two great examples of teams that have won multiple national championships and Clemson as well, you go and the Brock Bowers of the worlds play as a freshman and then they develop into sophomores and juniors and then they move off to the NFL, but they pass along that guidance and wisdom to the younger guys,” expressed Farrell. “There’s really not that ability to occur in Colorado if you just bring in new guys every year. To me, it can’t work. And I don’t think he’s in it for the long haul and I think that’s the main reason this is being done.”
Furthermore, Coach Prime’s “no-visit” policy and lack of intention to meet the parents of players, along with his brutal roster cuts and overall coaching laziness, led Farrell to predict that Sanders would likely be gone from the program by the time Shedeur and Travis Hunter enter the draft. “He’s not that good of a coach. I don’t think he’s going to be successful. I think he’s going to be gone,” said Farrell.
