On Friday, Aug. 2, Athlon Sports’ Steve Corder reported on the “chaotic culture” within the Colorado Buffaloes football team under head coach Deion Sanders. While the article didn’t penetrate the national media rotation, Sanders and several players did comment on it over the weekend and this week.
Additionally, Corder joined The Dan Le Batard Show on Wednesday, Aug. 7, to address questions about the piece’s validity and the sources he spoke with. So, what is going on in Boulder, Colorado?
Is There a Culture Problem at Colorado Under Deion Sanders?
Sanders led Jackson State to a 27-6 record and back-to-back SWAC championships in his three years as the head coach. He also brought unprecedented attention to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), educating people across the country on their existence.
However, when an opportunity presented itself at Colorado, Sanders left the Tigers, just as he said he would early on in his tenure. His presence warranted far more attention than a team coming off a 1-11 record deserved. And after a 3-0 start with wins over 2023 National Championship runner-up TCU, Nebraska, and rival Colorado State, the Buffaloes were on the peak of the mountain.
Until it all crashed down.
Sanders’ squad went 1-8 the rest of the way, falling out of the Pac-12 race and out of the media’s mind. Now in the Big 12 and with yet another massive roster overhaul, CU is back on the radar, though this time not as media darlings but as the black sheep many want to see fail.
A large reason for the sentiment is Sanders and the team’s propensity for getting in front of a mic and ruffling feathers. But is there more to the culture than just confidence bordering on arrogance?
“It’s like a real-life Grand Theft Auto video game,” one former player told Corder of Colorado’s locker room. “There are many distractions with fights, guns, and money floating around. The environment is unlike any I’ve come from before.”
According to Corder’s sources, primarily players who transferred out, former five-star CB and current Florida Gator Cormani McClain was slapped multiple times by safety Shilo Sanders following a loss to Oregon State, prompting McClain to scream, “I’m going to kill you.”
On an Instagram post featuring a screenshot of the quote, McClain commented, “Ah yo” with a “cap” emoji, calling the claim false.
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The article also reported that five-star true freshman Jordan Seaton was bullied into “proving his manhood” by fighting now-Syracuse lineman Savion Washington. Corder continued, “In April, the two were said to have exchanged blows, leaving both bloody. Witnesses described it as ‘two bears scrapping for food.'”
On The Dan Le Batard Show, Corder said he received pictures of a bruised and beaten Seaton after the story went live.
At practice this week, Seaton was asked about potential hazing within the program, to which he responded, “For me, freshman initiation was listening. We don’t really do the hazing or the fighting. We don’t do that. This is a brotherhood — brothers fight, but not to the point where we don’t like each other.”
Flagrant bullying is one thing, but that wasn’t the only issue Corder touched on in his article. Allegedly, QB Colton Allen asked WR Kaleb Mathis, the son of CU DBs coach Kevin Mathis, to pay back a gambling debt “in excess of $10,000.”
Mathis refused and proceeded to punch Allen several times in the locker room with players and coaches in the vicinity. Corder detailed that Allen feared repercussions due to Mathis’ connection to the coaching staff, and his father denied comment on the matter.
Yet, arguably the most concerning topic Corder broached surrounded the use of guns within the program.
“It’s rampant there,” Corder said on The Dan Le Batard Show. “There’s a video circulating — I actually found after the piece — where they’re asking, I believe it’s [Deion Sanders Jr.], asking, ‘Who’s the most strapped on the team?’ … It’s not just one person; it’s multiple people. I found a video also last night of Travis Hunter and Deion fishing, and there’s a gun in plain sight. It seems like it’s just part of the culture.”
Colorado is one of 31 open-carry states and allows a person to possess a handgun in a dwelling, place of business, or automobile, but the weapon must be in plain view in a home, business, or hotel room.
In March 2023, four-star DL commit Omar white was charged with three felonies (aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm) stemming from separate but related February shootings in Valdosta, Georgia. Colorado pulled his scholarship, and he committed to UAB last month.
Additionally, last summer, the Naples Daily News reported that CU commit Ebenezer Bouzi was arrested for allegedly threatening a girl with a gun, and he was charged with misdemeanor battery six months later.
The gun show doesn’t stop there.
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While announcing his commitment this offseason, transfer DT Chidozie Nwankwo had a handgun on the table as he celebrated with Coach Prime on a live stream. The incident added fuel to Corder’s claims, but it’s important to note all of these actions occurred before these athletes were officially in Boulder and on the team.
Furthermore, the alleged video of Sanders and Hunter having a gun with them on a fishing boat comes from a fishing competition the two had on Sanders’ property in Dallas, Texas.
Sanders broke his silence on the article while dining at CU’s facilities, saying, “People start spreading lies when they see you succeeding. Shouldn’t there be some kind of ramifications?” He also touched on the fact that the team had the highest GPA in school history last semester, asking how they did that if the environment is as toxic as suggested.
Colorado long snapper Camden “The Governor” Dempsey also addressed the controversy when speaking to media at practice, stating, “We’ve had enough of these baseless hit pieces. They don’t impact our team. We’re dedicated, and Coach Prime is revolutionizing college football. That’s our focus.”
Star safety Shilo Sanders even shouted from the side, “Governor, tell them I didn’t do nothing!”
Nevertheless, Corder remained confident in his reporting and responded to Coach Prime’s pseudo-threat of taking legal action:
“There’s no reason to worry. I’ve vetted my sources, I’ve checked, I’ve double-checked. … I have to go with my gut, and I believe these guys.”
Corder also said he wouldn’t stop reporting on the issue and that “There’s a lot more going on than … It is worse. There is a lot more to be told.”
When Le Batard asked why beat reporters aren’t the ones breaking such news, Corder answered, “The beat reporters are content because they have access — or they have the access that Deion allows them to have — and that’s enough for them. Maybe they don’t believe it; maybe they only believe what they see and what they are told.
“I’ve talked to these young men. They are scared; they are worried about repercussions — whether it be players that are nor longer there or players that are there. I’m just doing what I think is right, what needs to be done. If this was going on anywhere, I would think anybody would want to know about it, whether its the university, whether its the state, whether its the player families.”
If Corder’s reports are true, then the program must be investigated by the school and the NCAA. But it wouldn’t be the first time he was wrong.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne held a concert at Colorado’s Events Center leading up to the Buffaloes’ Spring Game in April, and QB Sheduer Sanders made a surprise appearance on stage.
However, Corder reported Coach Prime made the concert mandatory for all his players and threatened to dismiss anyone who didn’t attend. A source told him, “The Wayne concert was the final straw for a few players who hit the transfer portal. When Coach Prime told us we all had to be there to support Shedeur as a rapper, they were not happy at all.”
Players and coach debunked the piece in a YouTube video by Sanders Jr.’s Well Off Media company, titled “Another Day, Another Lie Told About the CU Buffs.”
“It was not mandatory to go to the concert,” director of football sports performance Maurice Sims said. “Guys just wanted to be good teammates. Did they even know that he was performing? I didn’t know.”
“I seen that,” wideout Omarion Miller said on camera. “They crazy for that. He ain’t force us to go to that.” LaJonhntay Wester, the star WR transferring in from FAU, didn’t attend the concert and said he wasn’t required to do so.
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As the dust settles on the latest controversy, the question remains: Is the culture within Colorado football truly as chaotic as Corder describes, or is this a case of sensationalized reporting? With Coach Prime’s track record of pushing boundaries and defying expectations, it’s clear that the Buffaloes won’t escape scrutiny anytime soon.
The spotlight on Boulder is brighter than ever, and how Sanders and his team handle this pressure will redefine the narrative surrounding one of college football’s most polarizing figures.
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