College Football

Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi criticizes Deion Sanders' use of transfer portal

Updated May. 23, 2023 6:54 p.m. ET

College football's transfer portal and subsequent NIL deals have been a hot topic of conversation throughout this offseason.

While there are several coaches who are in favor of the evolving landscape, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi can be included in the "not a fan" category on the matter.

Narduzzi recently criticized how the transfer portal has negatively become a way for schools to raid rosters, taking specific exception to the exodus of players at Colorado in the wake of Deion Sanders being named the program's head coach.

"That's not the way it's meant to be," Narduzzi said in an interview with 247Sports.com. "That's not what the rule intended to be. It was not to overhaul your roster. We'll see how it works out, but that, to me, looks bad on college football coaches across the country.

"The reflection is on one guy right now but when you look at it overall – those kids that have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and goals in life – I don't know how many of those 70 that left really wanted to leave, or they were kicked in the butt to get out."

Colorado has been at the top of the college football news cycle since announcing the hiring of Sanders back in December 2022. The Hall of Fame defensive back served as the head coach at Jackson State from 2020-22 before heading to Boulder, where he is faced with the task of rebuilding a program that finished 1-11 last season and lost those 11 games by average of 29 points per contest.

Shortly after accepting the head coaching position at Colorado, "Coach Prime" met his team, telling players to "jump in that portal" at a speech that went viral across social media. Since that speech was delivered, more than 50 players from Colorado's 2022 roster have entered the transfer poral.

Coach Prime leads Colorado's massive roster flip

Joel Klatt talks about Deion Sanders' roster overhaul at Colorado and if players should feel blindsided by it.

"I grew up in a profession that you can't tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability," Narduzzi said. "I think he'll [Sanders] be shocked that he probably had some pretty good football players in that room. When I got to Pitt back in 2015, I didn't kick anybody off. Zero. Those are your guys. When you become a head coach, you inherit that team and you coach that team. If someone wants to leave, that's great. You don't kick them out. I disagree with that whole process. That's not why I got in the game."

This isn't the first time Narduzzi has lambasted a school over the transfer portal.

Back in May 2022, former Pitt wide receiver and reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison announced his intention to transfer to USC. When he caught wind of the news, Narduzzi allegedly called Trojans coach Lincoln Riley to express his displeasure and discuss the potential of tampering, according to ESPN.

In December 2022, Narduzzi went on record, claiming two ACC schools offered North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye $5 million to transfer, adding that it's a "sad, sad deal."

Pittsburgh is coming off a 9-4 season, which concluded with an impressive victory over UCLA in the Sun Bowl. Narduzzi is set to enter his ninth season as the school's head coach. He is 62-41 in his time at the university.

On the other hand, Colorado is searching for just its second winning season since 2016. The Buffaloes finished 4-2 in the COVID-shortened 2022 campaign. They are 24-42 over the past six seasons.

Colorado currently has the No. 1 recruiting class of transfers for 2023.

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