Coach Prime's long-rumored lightning rod Colorado football hire hasn't been confirmed by CU: Report
Coach Prime's long-rumored lightning rod Colorado football hire, Warren Sapp, still hasn't been confirmed by the University of Colorado's brain trust according to USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer; this despite Sapp saying he was officially a CU GA on Deion Sanders' Buffs staff at Super Bowl Radio Row.
"Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is not on the staff even though Sanders previously said he would be," reported Schrotenboer. "Sapp this week told online sports site DNVR that he was coming to Boulder in March and would become a graduate assistant at Colorado, though this hasn't been confirmed by the university. Being hired in this role would require him to be enrolled in graduate-level coursework at Colorado and might quiet concerns about hiring him on Sanders' full-time staff of 10 assistants. Sapp, 51, has little coaching experience and a history of incidents that had raised eyebrows among domestic violence survivor organizations."
Violence Free Colorado, the federally recognized, anti-domestic violence coalition for the state of Colorado, spoke out against Sapp getting a position at CU.
“By recruiting someone with a history of public allegations of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, they risk promoting violence rather than speaking out against it,” said the org's statement (h/tUSA Today). “They risk saying that violence is excusable if the player or coach is successful. They risk undermining the public work CU has done to speak out against domestic violence. As advocates, we know the answer is not to ignore the allegations against Mr. Sapp, but to address them head on.”
Coach Prime could have first major Colorado football disagreement with CU
If Coach Prime doesn't finish out his contract at Colorado, many may look back at his lack of being able to get Sapp hired, if CU administration doesn't allow the six-time All-Pro DL to join Sanders' quest to take over the Big 12, as the opening salvo in a potential standoff.
The University of Colorado invested a great deal of its marketing budget focusing on how "Prime Time" Boulder has become. Coach Prime not only dominates messaging, but even has his own class he makes sporadic appearances as a guest lecturer for.
Where Sapp's potential hiring leads feels like a potential bellwether for where this school-coach relationship goes.