Deion dismisses Narduzzi's comments: He's mad at transfer portal use, not me

Deion Sanders isn't taking Pat Narduzzi's criticism of his use of the transfer portal personally. In fact, the Colorado head coach believes the Pitt sideline boss is just using him to take out his general frustration.

"He is not mad at me, he is mad at the situation in football now that allowed his best player to leave a year ago," Sanders told 247Sports' Carl Reed this week.

He added: "He's using me to shoot bullets at another coach who he has an issue with. I don't know who he is; if he walked in here right now, I wouldn't know him."

Narduzzi criticized Sanders for using the portal to fill out Colorado's roster since he was hired in December. More than 50 Buffaloes players have entered the portal since Sanders joined the team from Jackson State.

"That's not what the rule intended to be," Narduzzi said in May. "It was not to overhaul your roster. ... To me, (it) looks bad on college football coaches across the country."

Narduzzi added: "I don't know how many of those ... that left really wanted to leave, or (if) they were kicked in the butt to get out."

Colorado has added several impact players, including Travis Hunter and Sanders' sons, Shilo and Shedeur. The Buffaloes coach called the drastic roster turnover "necessary" after Colorado went 1-11 last season. The team hasn't had a winning campaign since 2016.

"I don't understand how you would think that the coaching staff is the only thing that deserved a change," Sanders said. "Now, when you rid yourself of the entire coaching staff, you think you are going to keep all the kids? That doesn't make sense to me."

Colorado will kick off the 2023 season Sept. 2 against TCU.