Transfer portal exits are never quiet, and Tawfiq Byard’s was no exception. After confirming his departure from Deion Sanders’ Colorado squad, the Buffaloes safety caught some serious strays from Colorado’s faithful, including a close Deion confidant. Byard responded by sharing a Deion clip to make his feelings crystal clear.

“You know who played with that attitude?” Deion addressed the locker room, talking about Byard in the old clip shared by the ex-Buff on December 22. “That dude plays like a killer. There’s something about that 7, man.”

After spending two seasons at South Florida Bulls, the redshirt sophomore made the move to Deion’s camp last year. He didn’t see the field as a true freshman back at South Florida. But by his second season, he was locking things down as one of the AAC’s premier defensive backs, racking up 34 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, and an interception.

Wednesday, December 17, wasn’t kind to Deion’s squad. Omarion Miller entered the transfer portal, leaving the Buffs’ receiver room even lighter, and the pain doubled with the departure of standout safety Byard.

Once an afterthought on the recruiting trail, the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder ranked just No. 1447 nationally and No. 147 among safeties out of high school. Three years later, the ex-DeMatha Catholic standout carved out his own reputation. 

He thrived under Deion with 57 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles, standing tall as a rare bright spot in the Buffaloes’ secondary. 

Even against a softer offensive opponent, Colorado’s defense showed real signs of life in a 29-22 loss to West Virginia. 

After surrendering 50-plus points in consecutive games, Robert Livingston’s unit tightened up. It limited the Mountaineers to 369 total yards and just three touchdowns. The improvement showed up on the stat sheet too, with interceptions from Preston Hodge and John Slaughter and a forced fumble by Brandon Davis-Swain.

In that game, Deion’s former safety racked up six solo tackles. However, he took pride in the whole unit. 

“That’s what we do on defense,” said Byard. “We didn’t do too good this year at forcing turnovers. All week, we were doing pursuit drills, getting to the ball, and that played a part.”

Never one to bite his tongue, Deion’s sophomore made his feelings known during Colorado’s loss, too. He stepped into a vocal leadership role that quickly turned him into a true team captain.

“Just being more vocal,” said Byard after breaking his hand while facing off against the Iowa State Cyclones. “I just want to show my teammates that I’m the guy they can count on in practice and in the games.”

Frustrated by the defense’s second-half woes, he refused to tap out after breaking his hand in the third quarter. He taped up and kept swinging. Byard then used one good hand to pin Rocco Becht’s off-target throw against the plaster for a gritty interception.

Did losing such a powerful player trigger Deion’s confidence?

Uncle Neely pulls no punches after Deion Sanders’ costly portal loss

Uncle Neely has never been shy about defending Deion and the Colorado program. So, when word broke that Byard would test the transfer waters, his response was predictably blunt. Every portal move comes with its own backstory. But one Colorado insider suggested that money has been the common theme behind many departures from Boulder.

“Show me someone who’s departed a team and is worth 500,000 to keep them, just throwing that number at you,” said Neely during The Pregame Show. “Four pass deflections worth 500,000? Or can we pick up four pass deflections and pass breakups somewhere else? One interception worth 500,000?” 

The recruiting space does not look positive in Deion’s camp. Colorado has already seen a steady stream of players announce their intentions to leave, like Miller, Noah King, and Brandon Davis-Swain, among others. And guess who just made things worse?

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Deion Sanders’ defensive pass rush coordinator, Warren Sapp. 

“Colorado assistant Warren Sapp labeled Texas high school football ‘Fake,’” shared Texas Football Life reported on Instagram, “despite recent losses to Houston and TCU, both powered by Texas high school recruits.”

The comment came after MaxPreps highlighted Texas running back SaRod Baker’s playoff tear. But Sapp wasn’t buying the hype. Despite Baker’s 19 touchdowns in five postseason games and a chance to add more in the 6A Division II championship, Sapp dismissed the numbers by questioning the quality of Texas competition.

Colorado has already lost a key piece in Tawfiq Byard. First came Uncle Neely’s pointed remarks, and now Warren Sapp has added his own blunt take. Could all this noise start to undercut Deion Sanders’ recruiting momentum?