Deion Sanders, Colorado CFB Team Self-Reported 11 Minor NCAA Violations
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes football program have self-reported 11 minor violations to the NCAA since his hiring in December 2022, according to USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer.
"The University of Colorado Boulder Athletic Department is committed to complying with NCAA regulations and will continue to educate our coaches, student-athletes, and staff to ensure that we remain in compliance," Colorado said in a statement. "We take all infractions seriously, regardless of the severity, and in these specific cases, these minor infractions were all self-reported to the NCAA."
The violations include multiple social media and transfer portal violations, a security issue, a forbidden gameday simulation, impermissible contact with a recruit, a yoga coach violation and a recruit being given premium seating access, according to Schrotenboer.
Here's a breakdown of the violations:
Transfer Portal Violations
More than 350 players participated in Colorado's postgraduate camp in May, which was open to high school graduates and transfers who had entered the portal. However, seven of those who participated did not have an "active" status in the portal, which was a violation of a rule that prohibits tampering.
Colorado imposed a two-week recruiting ban in June as a penalty and also enacted a one-day recruiting ban on all activity with transfer recruits in December 2023. The football staff was also required to take part in rules education and the seven recruits who didn't have an active status were declared permanently ineligible at Colorado.
"The problem stemmed from not forcing camp participants to certify they were in the transfer portal," Schrotenboer wrote.
Another transfer portal violation occurred a few days after Sanders was hired when a high school coach submitted an academic transcript for a transfer recruit even though he wasn't yet in the transfer portal.
The issue put the program at risk for violating the NCAA's tampering rules, and the recruitment of the player in question was immediately put to an end.
Members of the staff received rules education on tampering and education on transfer recruiting rules as a result, per Schrotenboer.
Social Media Violations
In May, Sanders hosted an Instagram live session that featured a recruiting prospect who verbally committed to play for the Buffaloes during the live stream before doing a 180 and committing to Texas.
The recruit was a featured participant on the live stream for a couple of minutes, which violated an NCAA rule that restricts recruits from being involved in media activity conducted by a head coach.
As a penalty, all of Colorado's coaches were removed from recruiting duties and no recruiting evaluations were allowed for a week.
Another violation occurred just after Sanders was hired when a photo was posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that showed a list of recruiting prospects. The posting of the photo violated an NCAA rule that prohibits a program from publicizing recruits before they officially sign with the school.
While the photo was removed after 10 minutes, the staff received education on social media rules.
In January 2023, Sanders reposted a video of his team taking part in voluntary workouts, which violates the NCAA's rule about recording players' participation in those workouts. The staff underwent education on voluntary activities as a result.
Security Issue and Forbidden Gameday Simulation
Due to a breakdown in security measures, a former Colorado player and his son were allowed to enter the team's locker room prior to a game against Stanford in October to listen to pregame speeches from the coaching staff.
This was considered a violation on gameday simulations because the former player's son is a recruit in the class of 2028.
As a penalty, the former player had his field access revoked for the remainder of the 2023 season and the football staff underwent rules education.
In January 2023, the program violated the NCAA's rules on gameday simulations when a recruit was lined up on the field across from Sanders while wearing a Colorado uniform.
The football staff underwent rules education as a result and the program had it's total number of permissible contacts with the recruit reduced by one.
Other Violations
In May, Colorado made impermissible contact with a recruit when a linebackers coach took a photo with a recruit, which was later posted to social media. As a penalty, the program was given two less contacts with the the recruit, a reduction of six recruiting person days and rules education.
In August, a strength and conditioning intern led the team in a yoga session for 30 minutes. This was a violation because the intern was not one of the five declared strength and conditioning coaches for the program.
In September, a recruit made an unofficial visit to Colorado and gained access to the premier seating area, which is a violation of NCAA rules.
The reporting of these minor violations prevents the program from facing harsher punishments.
