Coach Deion Sanders and his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, have responded to a transfer student who criticized how players were treated at Colorado.

The Athletic recently published an article recounting the experience of a former Colorado player who left the team prior to Coach Sander’s debut season.

“He was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves,” Former Buffaloes defensive back Xavier Smith said. “The way he did it, it could’ve been done with a little more compassion.”

Smith said that Coach Sanders did not take the time to get to know him before removing him from the program. As a freshman, Smith earned All-America honors at FCS Austin Peay in 2023, and he has now joined the UTEP program under coach Scotty Walden.

Coach Prime and Shedeur’s comments aimed at the critics of the Colorado football team have gained attention online. Shedeur replied to Smith’s comments on X, saying he didn’t remember him. 

“Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best,” he tweeted.

Smith had spent one year at Colorado under the previous coaching regime. Unfortunately, he sustained an injury during the second half of his first season and didn’t have the chance to appear in a game.

Smith has criticized Sanders before. In November, he told the Associated Press that he had faith in Coach Sanders to retain young players like him in order to establish a strong foundation and team culture. However, his expectations were not met, and he was one of the players who were cut.

“We all have expectations of a coach, and I just feel like those expectations weren’t met,” he said.

Colorado receiver Kaleb Mathis shared a video of himself going against Smith on the field on social media. The video showed Mathis in a better light during the play than Smith. Smith’s Austin Peay teammate, Jaheim Ward, noted Mathis had just 38 receiving yards last season.

Coach Sanders commented, “Lawd Jesus,” in response to Ward’s FCS career statistics being posted online, which showed 36 tackles in three seasons.

He also defended his QB son after someone called out Shedeur’s social media behavior and for acting “like he the coldest out here then put up a 4-8 season.”

“He will be a top-five pick. Where yo son going? Lololol I got time today. Lololol,” he tweeted.

Despite the criticism, Deion Sanders Jr. took to the comments section of a post on The Athletic to defend his father.

“That’s why we run our own media and control our own narrative,” Deion Sanders Jr. wrote on X.

Colorado BuffaloesDeion SandersShedeur SandersXavier Smith