Colorado football GA Warren Sapp let it be known how he is going to be to potentially undisciplined players in the locker room during the 2024 season, his first in Boulder: he's going to "straighten them out" one way or another.
"You come at me sideways, I’m going to take it," Sapp said during a conversation with Thee Pregame Show's Uncle Neely (h/t Essentially Sports). "It’s okay. Now I’m going to straighten you up. So it ain’t sideways, so we got a direct line of communication.
"It’s not personal. It’s June, I have seen them now. They are happily giving you what you demand."
Sapp certainly didn't mince his words after having his hiring nearly halted by CU's administration due to their no-tolerance policy on past domestic abuse charges. Evidently, he wants to keep players accountable and say things that may be unpopular.
As Uncle Neely previously shared, Sapp is working under strict guidelines himself; clearly hoping his players follow his lead and don't leave him hanging.
“I had lunch with Warren Sapp, a Hall of Famer today, and he has two phones and both of them were in the container and he was talking to players at the table," Neely said (h/t Essentially Sports). "It’s probably now just about a full week that this policy has been in place.”
Warren Sapp could unlock physical element of Colorado football defense
Colorado's defense turned itself into a relative strength in 2023, particularly in the trenches. But under ex-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, there was a lacking mean-ness that could be evident this season under Sapp.
Transfers BJ Green, Chidozie Nwankwo, and Dayon Hayes will help the cause, but defensive identities are formed by those in charge regardless of the talent in the room.
Sapp is becoming a GA in a time where support staff members have increased access to players. He can parlay this role into something bigger by having them lasered in on making life easier for everyone behind them in coverage by applying more pressure. And indirectly, the offense.