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New Colorado coach Deion Sanders tells current Buffaloes players to enter transfer portal

Deion Sanders arrived in Boulder on Sunday, where he was officially announced as Colorado’s next head coach.

He came with a very clear message to current Buffaloes players, too.

Sanders already has his quarterback picked out — his son, Shedeur — and they need to hit the transfer portal.

“It ain’t gonna be no more of a mess that these wonderful fans, the student body and some of your parents have put up with for probably two decades now. I’m coming, and when I get here, it’s gonna be changed,” Sanders told a room full of Colorado players. “So I want y’all to get ready to go ahead and jump in the portal and do whatever you’re gonna get because if more of you jump in, the more room you make.”

Hearing a coach blatantly tell a room full of players that they better leave isn’t something that happens too often. While it’s hard to imagine the entire returning team opts to transfer elsewhere, Sanders’ speech on Sunday is sure to have pushed at least a few players who were on the fence over the edge.

He also all but assured that Shedeur, his son and current Jackson State quarterback, will be leading the team next fall.

Sanders, after his undefeated season capped three impressive years at Jackson State, opted to make the jump to Colorado on Saturday night. He compiled a 27-5 record and won two SWAC championships while at Jackson State, including a 43-24 win in the SWAC title game on Saturday.

The Buffaloes clearly need someone like Sanders to revamp their program, too. Colorado fired coach Karl Dorrell earlier this fall after he started 0-5 in his third season. The team finished with a 1-11 record. Colorado has just one winning season to its name since moving to the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.

"There were a number of highly qualified and impressive candidates interested in becoming the next head football coach at Colorado, but none of them had the pedigree, the knowledge and the ability to connect with student-athletes like Deion Sanders," Colorado athletic director Rick George said. "Not only will Coach Prime energize our fanbase, I'm confident that he will lead our program back to national prominence while leading a team of high quality and high character."

There is just one minor hitch in George’s plan to reshape his football program around Coach Prime.

He doesn’t have the money lined up just yet.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders didn't hold back when addressing his new team on Sunday in Boulder. (Helen H. Richardson//The Denver Post/Getty Images)