Jim Mora calls out Deion Sanders for withholding film from transfer players

Jim Mora isn’t a fan of Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes withholding the film of their players that have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

The news came to light when a bevy of players took to Twitter to let college coaches know that Sanders’ program isn’t releasing their film after a mass exodus where many Buffaloes decided to leave the program.

Tight end Zachary Courtney was one of those airing out his issue on social media, after announcing his intentions to leave on April 19. Courtney has not been able to get practice film out to other schools. He claims Sanders has blocked his access to the film since entering the portal.

“For the coaches who are trying to recruit me,” Courtney said via Twitter. “I am sorry but I will not be able to get y’all my film from my practices last season since I am not allowed to have it because the head coach at CU won’t allow it. This is very unlucky and if you have any questions just text me!”

Evidently, the leader of the Connecticut Huskies had a problem with that, deciding to speak out on Twitter regarding the situation.

Check out Mora’s tweet below, where he accused Sanders of “operating from a place of complete paranoia” due to the decision.

Any coach that won’t allow a transfer to access film is operating from a place of complete paranoia. You really believe an opponent can gather info from random clips? @Realrclark25. Part of the job of a COLLEGE Coach is to advocate for your student-athletes…current and past! https://t.co/E2FlR3DP6w

— Jim Mora (@CoachJimMoraFB) April 26, 2023

“Any coach that won’t allow a transfer to access film is operating from a place of complete paranoia,” tweeted Mora. “You really believe an opponent can gather info from random clips?

“@Realrclark25. Part of the job of a COLLEGE Coach is to advocate for your student-athletes…current and past!”

Alas, the amount of Colorado players that have entered the portal has been comically large. While Sanders has brought back flair and excitement to the program, it’s obvious he’s not been a positive change for incumbent players, and they’re deciding to move on from the former Jackson State Tigers leader.

It’s caused a ton of chatter from the outside world, but On3’s JD PicKell boiled it down to being a simple business decision for Sanders and the Buffaloes.

“So here’s my guess on what’s happening right now at Colorado. From the outside looking in, I believe everybody involved here is making a business decision,” explained PicKell. “I think he (Sanders) is making a decision that’s best for his football team and saying we were 1-11 last year. The personnel that made that happen is, quite frankly, not good enough for my standards, for our standards, for what we want to get done.

“So I believe a lot of these guys, not all, are being told they no longer have a spot at Colorado; to put it bluntly, I believe a lot of these guys are being cut. It’s just a business decision here for Coach Prime.”

It makes sense. Many of the guys entering the portal have talent, but the 1-11 record from last season isn’t going to get them any love in Boulder. It may be best to simply move on.

Afterwards, Mora cleared things up on Twitter, stating that he doubts Sanders is personally keeping athletes from accessing their film, believing there’s a bigger issue at play because that isn’t the Sanders he knows.

“To be clear, I doubt that @DeionSanders is keeping transfers from accessing film, that’s not the man I know,” added Mora. “Sounds like some false narrative.

Nevertheless, it’s an odd scenario that Colorado won’t allow them their film, but perhaps that’ll change in the coming days. Regardless, immense change is happening in Boulder, and people are taking notice.