When he took over as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, Deion Sanders took a pretty controversial approach to revamping his roster, pushing an unprecedented number of players out of his program and replacing them with players from the transfer portal. And that move seems to have rubbed more than a few coaches the wrong way, including Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables.
During an interview at Big 12 Media Days this week, Brent Venables compared the way he handled his roster when he arrived at Oklahoma to the way Deion Sanders handled his roster at Colorado, pointing out that unlike Sanders, he didn’t “give a bunch of guys pink slips.”
“We’re another year in establishing our standards and our culture and our values,” Venables said at Big 12 Media Days according to On3. “That matters. A year ago, I challenged the guys. I wasn’t like Deion that gave guys a bunch of pink slips. I gave the guys 12 months of grace to go to class, live right off the field and to show up with a great sense of urgency and respect for your opportunity at the University of Oklahoma.”
It’s a clear shot at Sanders, and the college football world had plenty to say about it.
"I wasn't like Deion and gave a bunch of guys pink slips." ~ Coach Brent Venables #ChasingExcellence Love it! https://t.co/a3qGBMFCal
— John Shupe (@BoomerShupe99) July 13, 2023
Man, Brent Venables is squeezing first and asking questions last these days… https://t.co/MfrAPtZOxq
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) July 17, 2023
Miami… ✅
Deion Sanders… ✅Who's next on Brent Venables' PR hit list? https://t.co/KdOjKJgdEV
— Adam Suderman (@adamsuderman) July 17, 2023
Imagine not liking Brent, couldn’t be me https://t.co/MYY7xMwCyz
— qǝlɐɔ (@EMAWCaleb) July 17, 2023
Genuine question here. What was the point of framing it like this? If it’s to get people to read, I agree, this is the quickest and easiest way. But just feels like it lacks a lot of nuance and further fosters the rage discourse on Sports Twitter by reporting it like this.
— Brad 🇺🇸 (@rimsocream) July 17, 2023
Brent Venables talks about how his approach instituting a culture change on an 11-win team he inherited differs from Deion Sanders’ approach with an 11-loss team he inherited. https://t.co/LsoY1gvyb6
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 17, 2023
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) July 18, 2023
"I gave guys 12 months of grace. I was unlike Deion."
Brent Venables took a completely unprompted shot at Deion Sanders.
The Oklahoma coach should worry more about doing better than 6-7 and spend less time worrying about Deion.https://t.co/Ul5Vq0hj28
— OutKick (@Outkick) July 18, 2023
It’s certainly a bold choice to make those comments. We’ll have to see how it works out for him.
[On3]