The transfer portal has become a live chaos. Be it an unregulated NIL market or the players’ loose ends of the mind that can swing with the money, it makes things very complex for the coaches. To bypass the trouble, coaches like Auburn’s Matt Rhule wanted to hold off the spring practice, fearing new tampering. Tennessee’s Josh Heupel had to take a harsh call on Nico Iamaleava after his historic practice holdout in demand of a big-money contract. And amid the chaos, can Deion Sanders be left behind? Naah! Sanders, heading into the first season without his sons by his side, addressed the glaring issue in the mix to shield his program from any potential fallout.
What’s the tea? Despite the extreme mess in governing the college football offseason, Sanders couldn’t feel the effect directly so far. But as things stretched and hit the Boulder, he, as always, didn’t take more to lash out. Sanders kept it straight and savage. He openly called out Tony Elliott and the University of Virginia football program for attempting to tamper. Those who are unversed, the term denotes an enticing effort to snag a player from another school with some bigger paychecks before that player even hits the portal.
During an eventful practice in Colorado on Thursday, Deion Sanders, in front of the camera, sent a chilling warning to fellow FBS giant, the Virginia Cavaliers, for eying his players with “a bag,” otherwise known as a large sum of NIL money. Sanders had some doubts about some cryptic antics of the school. To be sanguine, he asked junior defensive back Carter Stoutmire about who offered him the money to move on from the Buffs. And the answer?
Carter unhesitantly confessed it was the University of Virginia. Deion instantly moved back to the camera and adamantly addressed the $4.5 million worth head coach and his staff. “Virginia. Virginia. Where is the camera? Virginia, you gotta stop. I let you have one. I ain’t say nothing about it. Come on now,” Sanders fumed in rage. “Come on. We let you have one. I ain’t say nothing about it,” Sanders added, referring to RB Isaiah Augustave, who hit the transfer portal on Wednesday and is expected to visit the Cavaliers program.
But guess what! His warning was not just about the outside program and coaches. The real motive was to whip the cat of the mistress who doesn’t spin. Sanders put players on notice: “Anybody got anything they wanna say? Anybody planning on using us, getting on national TV, and then jumping into the portal? You know if I’m saying this, it’s already known.”
The Transfer Portal. Coach Prime Keeps It Real with the Team
“Anybody got anything they wanna say? Anybody planning on using us, getting on national TV and then jumping in the portal? You know if I’m saying this it’s already known”
@theepregameshow https://t.co/RjpYIg14uy pic.twitter.com/60ZaZXtEpf
— JaKi (@JaKiTruth) April 18, 2025
Deion knows the nerves of his guys. Carter might be the one with a profound loyalty to the program, but not everyone will follow suit. Carter loudly said that no number exists in math that can shake up his mind to leave the Buffs behind. Deion’s cutthroat message wasn’t for him. Hopefully, it reached the target mass without fail, and Sanders might have managed to create the air of alert he intended to. The rest falls on the stars. However, another coach came up and divulged a safe practice for the coaches to keep a clean record of this tampering game.
Dabo Swinney depicts a safe code of contact for coaches with outside players
Clemson Tigers’ Dabo Swinney has expressed frustration over tampering amidst the ongoing portal unrest. Back in September, Swinney said on a weekly conference call with reporters: There’s certainly a lot of tampering (from) people after games, that’s for sure. I’ve had several people over the last couple of years who have brought that up to me, where somebody’s come over to them. I’ve had parents tell me that. That’s just kind of the way it is, the way of the world right now. There aren’t a lot of barriers.”
However, heading into the spring, Swinney had a pretty clear headspace on the lingering off-season drama. He didn’t televise the Tigers’ spring game and made it clear that it was not out of his fear to avoid the coaches and scouts. Rather, the veteran head coach believes you can’t run from the tampering. If players don’t want to stay, they won’t, anyway. So, that’s not a concern. What feels more disturbing to him is that people often don’t understand the fine line between being pushy and being communicative with the players.
Swinney said he doesn’t take any risks. He usually limits his post-game communication with opposing players to handshakes. He added: “I ain’t going over there saying, ‘Hey man, if you hate it there, come play for us.’ I don’t do any of that stuff. On the road, I try to congratulate players, but I don’t get involved with any of that stuff. I think that’s probably pretty obvious.” Coaches can take note and avoid future disruption, and of course, a pair of red eyes from the Colorado head coach.
The post Things Aren’t the Same in Colorado Locker Room as Coach Prime Warns Julian Lewis & Co. After ACC Program’s Tampering Exposed appeared first on EssentiallySports.
