Nobody seems sure whether rumored controversial Colorado football hire is confirmed
"Nobody seems sure" whether or not Coach Prime's controversial rumored Colorado football GA hire, Warren Sapp, is actually going to start working at CU according to The Denver Gazette's Woody Paige.
"Sanders is not standing pat," Paige prefaced before saying, "Well, except for Pat Shurmur, formerly of the Broncos who now has CU’s official offensive coordinator’s title, and Robert Livingston (not the signer of the Declaration of Independence) was hired as defensive coordinator. Two other assistants have been added, but nobody seems sure about Warren Sapp’s deal or no deal."
USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer reported on January 13 that a University of Colorado spokesperson never confirmed the hire.
"There have been no conversations about hiring Warren Sapp for an assistant coach position at the University of Colorado," said Steve Hurlbert, spokesman for CU Boulder.
As Schrotenboer notes, Sapp's past may keep him out of Colorado.
"Sapp also has another history, involving violence against women, that has raised concerns in Colorado at the same time, leading to questions about his hiring there and how the university would address it after a previous scandal there led to pledges of no tolerance for domestic violence," Schrotenboer wrote. "In 2017, Colorado’s then-head coach, athletic director and chancellor were punished after an investigation found they mishandled domestic violence allegations involving a previous assistant football coach."
Colorado football will face backlash if Warren Sapp is hired
There will undoubtedly be a backlash if Sapp is hired. Violence Free Colorado has already released statements condemning Coach Prime's desired Colorado football support staff addition.
“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. “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.”
Deion Sanders may soon find out what college football is really like for head coaches at the highest level: being told you can't do something by someone with influence over the university he is working for. CU boosters haven't given Coach Prime any kind of hell yet -- paying all of his top recruits exorbitant amounts in pay-to-play NIL.
Still, the university's non-football leadership may give him that dose of reality by turning Sapp away.