Deion Sanders made it clear that big changes were coming to the University of Colorado football program when he was hired as head coach. That has certainly been the case through his first off-season in Boulder.
On Tuesday, edge rusher Sav’ell Smalls became the latest in a long line of past blue-chip recruits to join Sanders at Colorado.
Smalls, who was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2020, stayed in-state and went to the University of Washington. But after three seasons of struggling to produce — or even get on the field — Smalls entered the transfer portal.
And on Tuesday, Smalls announced on Twitter that he was heading to Colorado to play for the Buffaloes.
Let’s rock 🎸 @CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/AbjNJH8rl6
— Sav’ell Smalls 🧬 (@SavvySmalls_9) May 2, 2023
Smalls’ tenure in Washington didn’t go particularly well. He played in only nine combined games through the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He played more in 2022, getting into 13 games. But Smalls didn’t record a sack and notched only one tackle for a loss during the 2022 season.
Despite that, football fans were bullish that he’ll be able to turn his career around under Sanders in Colorado.
Getting scary https://t.co/afIvhM9Lzi
— /12/ (@kasenweisman12) May 2, 2023
Ooooweeee!! Go get yours Savvy!
— Reggie Jones (@RegJones20) May 2, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://t.co/m2AX4zWTsd
— Chase Howell (@chasehowell__) May 2, 2023
This is a fascinating fit for Smalls. Never got it going at UW but with a basically brand new team at Colorado hopefully he can see the field and get the reps he needs to develop https://t.co/dLvHKRENq2
— Ben Glassmire (@BenGlassmireNFL) May 2, 2023
Y’all tried to doubt Colorado meanwhile every time they lose guys they add someone better https://t.co/ITGJUxNH6a
— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) May 2, 2023
Smalls was the No. 30 ranked player in the Class of 2020. At his position, he was third, behind only Alabama recruits, Will Anderson and Chris Braswell.
