The storm of controversies surrounding Deion Sanders for so long finally gets addressed by one of his trusted companions. The story about Xavier Smith’s exit and how he claimed that Coach Prime told him to leave the team left a stain on his legacy, but it is all hypocrisy and nothing else, as per Uncle Neely.
Deion Sanders, the coach for the Colorado Buffaloes, faced a lot of backlash for the alleged mistreatment of Xavier Smith, the former recruit for Colorado back in 2022. Additionally, Smith was brought to tears over how Deion outlandishly told him to leave the team and enter the portal, due to which Coach Prime was termed as a “bully“. Now, one of Deion’s dearest, Uncle Neely, has taken to the stand to protect his image while also pointing out the double standards that exist for the coaches and the players.
Uncle Neely defends Deion’s treatment of Xavier Smith
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
On the 24th May episode of ‘Thee Pregame Show’, Uncle Neely was invited by Tolly Carr to talk about all things related to the Colorado Buffaloes. While Uncle Neely was seen discussing the transfer portal and how he doesn’t have any qualms about it, he later arrived to the topic of Deion Sanders and how he was lashed out at by the fans over his comments for Xavier Smith.
Neely agreed with what Swinney had to say and defended Coach Prime’s comments against Smith as well. “The issue I have is not what coach Swinney said, is that when other coaches say it, people get mad. When Coach Prime starts off with that like, ‘Hey, that guy left because he wasn’t good enough you know for our standard.’ People say, ‘Oh, you can’t speak ill to kids and can’t do that kind of thing’,” said Neely.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Furthermore, Neely also pointed out how if a coach fails to perform at the university’s benchmark, he is surely fired soon without any case of controversy, which isn’t what happened when Smith was released from the Buffs, per Sanders’ orders apparently. Moreover, here’s a look at Swinney’s words in relation to his thoughts on the transfer portal.
Dabo Swinney and his harsh opinion about the transfer portal
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The Clemenson Tigers rarely employ the usage of the portal, since Swinney confidently believes that “most” players aren’t good enough to play for the Tigers. Plus, Dabo Swinney, the HC for the Clemson Tigers, made the headlines when he made a few unique comments regarding the transfer portal. According to him, there are only “two” types of players in the transfer portal- the ones who enter as a formality since “the deal’s already been done” or those who enter it “just to see what he can get.”
Thus, it is apparent that are two sides of the coin when it comes to the portal- one of Deion Sanders, who relies on it drastically but also loses out a lot of players from his team. And then there’s Swinney, who doesn’t use it at all, under the mindset that his team is far too better than anyone who steps into the transfer portal.