If there’s one program in the country that’s become the poster child for the transfer portal era, it’s undeniably Colorado.
Immediately upon arriving in Boulder, new coach Deion Sanders told his team point-blank that roster changes were coming, encouraging holdovers from a team that went 1–11 in 2022 to explore options elsewhere.
“I’m bringing my luggage with my luggage with me and it’s Louis,” Sanders told the team. “I want y’all to get ready and go ahead and jump in that portal. The more you jump in, the more room you make.”
Less than five months later, many have followed those instructions.
With the additions of three players entering the transfer portal on Wednesday evening—edge rusher Taylor Upshaw, offensive lineman Jake Wiley and defensive lineman Mason Maddox—there have now been an eye-popping 41 Colorado players to enter the portal since April 15, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. Upshaw had just transferred to Colorado in January after playing four years at Michigan.
The latest defections come as other former players have spoken out about the perceived differences in the way the new coaching staff treated returning players compared to those who transferred in following Sanders’s hiring, according to a report from David Ubben of The Athletic.
“None of the new coaches would talk to the old players and treat us the same as the people they brought in,” former Colorado tight end Zach Courtney said. “The new guys wouldn’t be picked on as much in film,” he added. “Coaches would tell them to just do better, but if it was an old player, they’d keep going off on what you did wrong and keep yelling about it.”
