Cast-off departed Colorado transfers’ strong messages on Coach Prime

Cast-off Colorado football transfer Xavier Smith, one of the many players from the 2022 roster Coach Prime cut from the program and later teed off on to the media, had a strong message on Deion Sanders that reads as a raging anti-endorsement.

“We all have expectations of a coach and I just feel like those expectations weren’t met,” Smith told The AP. “All I wanted was a coach to be honest with me and give me an opportunity. To me it’s like, ‘Who are you to tell me that I’m not good enough to play here?’ So it’s just proving people wrong and proving to myself and my family that I am who I say I am and that I’m going to do what I say I’m going to do.”

Smith transferred to Austin Peay after being dismissed from the University of Colorado. A defensive back at the collegiate level, Smith was a former three-position Langston Hughes star from Fairburn, Georgia.

Forced Colorado football transfer: ‘I just couldn’t care less’ about Coach Prime’s staff

Offensive lineman Luke Eckardt, who ended up at Iowa Western C.C., had an even harsher assessment of Coach Prime’s staff; whom he claimed he “just couldn’t care less about” and holds resentment toward.

“The Jackson State guys, they were cool, I liked them,” Eckardt said. “I thought they were nice people, they were great teammates. Shedeur is a nice person. He’s a good teammate, he’s a great leader.

“I just couldn’t care less about the coaches, I guess. All my resentment is just for the leadership and the coaches and all that. I don’t have any anger toward the team.”

Evidently, Coach Prime has the ability to rub his players the wrong way. Given the Buffs’ 4-8 finish, it wouldn’t be shocking to hear players who made Colorado’s 2023 roster echo similar sentiments.