Colorado Football Self-Reports NCAA Violations Under Deion Sanders: Report
Colorado football has self-reported minor NCAA violations that occurred in Year 1 under Deion Sanders, according to a report from USA Today.
Per the report, there were 11 violations in total since Sanders was hired in December 2022, ranging from dealings with the transfer portal to social media posts (including Deion Sanders’ personal Instagram account).
Luckily for Coach Prime and the Buffaloes, none of the violations are expected to result in significant penalties, according to USA Today.
Self-reporting minor violations of NCAA rules is commonplace in college football and happens at virtually every major program in the country. While the headlines can incite panic, very rarely do the self-reported minor violations amount to anything more than a stack of paperwork somewhere in a filing cabinet.
It’s also worth noting that self-reporting these nominal violations is considered to be a sign of diligence and integrity, according to the report.
USA Today obtained documents that spelled out each of Colorado’s violations, all of which appeared to be “inadvertent violations” of the 452-page NCAA rulebook. The violations are listed and described in short, courtesy of USA Today.
Transfer Portal Violation
May 30, 2023: Seven players at a Colorado “postgraduate” camp were identified after attending as not having an “active” status in the transfer portal.
Deion Sanders’ Instagram Violation
May 2023: Sanders hosted an Instagram Live session with a prospect featured in the live stream for about two minutes.
Security Breakdown Before Game
October 13, 2023: A former Colorado player and his son (recruit in the Class of 2028) entered the Buffaloes locker room for pregame speeches by the football coaching staff.
Social Media Team Violation
December 28, 2022: Sanders’ social media team posted an image on Twitter that showed a spreadsheet of recruiting prospects.
Deion Sanders’ Instagram Violation (2)
January 2023: Sanders reposted a video on Instagram of his team engaged in voluntary activities.
Previous forbidden gameday simulation
January 2023: A recruiting prospect made an official visit to Colorado and participated in a “gameday simulation.”
Transfer Portal Violation (2)
December 2022: A high school coach submitted an academic transcript for a transfer recruit, even though that recruit had not yet officially entered the transfer portal.
Impermissible contact with recruit
May 19, 2023: Colorado linebackers coach Andre’ Hart was evaluating a spring game for recruiting when a recruit asked to take a picture with him, which then was posted to social media by the recruit.
Yoga coach violation
August 16, 2023: A strength and conditioning intern, who was not one of the five declared S&C coaches for Colorado, conducted a team-wide yoga session with the football team that lasted 30 minutes. Because of that, the football staff exceeded the NCAA limit of strength coaches by one.
Premium seating access by recruit
September 30, 2023: A recruit on an unofficial visit during the Colorado vs. USC game gained access to a premium seating area after showing his lanyard to a security guard, with the value of a ticket in the area being $475. The recruit was deemed ineligible until a repayment (of $475) is made.
If you took the time to read through the violations, you realize just how little some of the issues are. So, why is such a big deal made about all of it?
According to Joshua Lens, an assistant professor at Arkansas who previously worked in NCAA rules compliance, small issues can become bigger issues if they aren’t reported.
“Issues can really arise when Level III (minor) violations are undiscovered, unaddressed, and/or consistently pertain to the same bylaw,” Lens explained.
Lens also pointed out that some coaches just stay off social media altogether, as that seems to be the main issue tied to most of the violations.
“It’s reasonable to expect a coach who’s active on social media will be at risk for implicating more NCAA rules than coaches without social media accounts since there are so many rules that social media activity can trigger,” Lens said.
NCAA rules require self-reporting, and programs doing so shows the NCAA that they’re doing their part to maintain proper control of their athletic departments.
“This demonstrates the effectiveness of our established compliance systems which are the basis of our department’s positive partnership with the NCAA,” Colorado said in its statement.
