Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders has had his share of issues with recently-retired former Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Their rivalry on the recruiting circuit and transfer portal is by now well known. That’s what makes Prime’s take shortly after Saban shockingly retired so odd.
“WOW! College Football just lost the GOAT to retirement. WOW! I knew it would happen 1 day soon but not this soon. The game has change so much that it chased the GOAT away. College football let’s hold up our mirrors and say HONESTLY what u see,” Deion Sanders wrote on X.
There is a whole heck of a lot to unpack here. Is Sanders saying that the transfer portal played a role in Saban opting to retire? Perhaps, Deion is pointing to the billion-dollar industry that is name image and likeness (NIL) that see recruits make decisions based on finances.
It was back in May that Saban attacked Sanders for allegedly paying a recruit $1 million to come to Jackson State when he was their head coach.
Related: It’s time to pump the brakes on Deion Sanders hype train and enjoy the ride
“Coach Saban wasn’t talking to me. Coach Saban wasn’t talking to Jimbo Fisher. He was talking to his boosters. He was talking to his alumni,” Sanders said. “He was talking to his givers. He was trying to get money. That was what he was doing. He was just using us to get to where he was trying to get to.”
Either way, Sanders’ comments following Saban’s retirement are interesting. We’ll see if he expands on why he thinks the 72-year-old Saban stepped away from the game.