Colorado is falling behind in recruiting. They didn’t have a promising turnout at the spring game. And amid it all, Deion Sanders decided to stir the media with a pointed jab at 247Sports. It all began when the sports media outlet rolled out fresh evaluations of the Buffs’ roster and recruiting pipeline that spring ball usually brings. But when the coverage hit a nerve, the head coach called them “desperate.” It didn’t take long for a former Buff-turned-247Sports-analyst to fire back. 

Matt McChesney is a Boulder guy through and through who started his football career at Colorado and later played in the NFL. Currently, he’s linked with 247Sports with Back in Black, a Colorado football podcast. He didn’t take Deion Sanders’ comments very well and didn’t hesitate to voice his thoughts on the program’s approach and direction. 

“I don’t think their recruiting is going very well,” Matt McChesney said. “As an alum and as an ex-Buff, they take it really personally because of the passion I have for that place that they don’t. Don’t throw shade like I’m a chump, like some of the guys you hired.”

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This is a response from Deion Sanders’ comments during Colorado’s April 12 spring game press conference. His statement divided fans as the tension between Colorado and parts of the media boiled over again.

“247, they’re hiring everybody right now,” Deion Sanders said. “Who else is with 247. I heard somebody must have told me something. But somebody else, I don’t know who it was, but I’m like, man, they must be desperate.”

Still, this didn’t come out of nowhere. Colorado has been under scrutiny for months with every portal move, every recruiting miss, and every depth chart being dissected. And when your 2026 recruiting class is sitting near the bottom of the Big 12 (15th out of 16 teams, per Rivals), those critiques get louder.

Deion Sanders hears it, and he’s not interested in letting it slide. He’s following a pattern that dates back to Jackson State. Control the narrative, challenge the critics, and keep the spotlight exactly where he wants it. But just when it felt like this was another of his vs. media episodes, Matt McChesney’s voice mattered. 

There’s a personal touch in his response because he isn’t some outsider throwing hot takes for clicks. Matt McChesney tried twice to get into the program as an OL coach. Both times, he didn’t even land an interview with Deion Sanders. There’s no bitterness, at least on the surface.

“I do not regret trying to help my university when I think I can,” he said then. “If the job opens again, I’ll try again. So no, I’m not mad at all. I just love that place, and it’s the only place I would leave my own businesses for.”

That frustration at being left out of the rebuild boiled over when former 5-star OT Jordan Seaton transferred, prompting McChesney to critique the program’s messaging about money.

“Money has something to do with this,” he said. “So, Coach Prime, please stop talking about money publicly… Please have a little bit of business acumen. Because when you come out and say that we want dogs, not cats. And cats chase bags, and we don’t want guys to chase bags. But then, Coach Prime consistently did it when he was a player.”

That critique has been hovering around Boulder for months. Is the message matching the method? But while the noise builds off the field, Colorado still has to figure things out on it. And that starts with one name – Julian Lewis.

Deion Sanders still has a lot to fix

The on-field questions start with quarterback Julian Lewis, who, despite flashing arm talent in the spring game, remains a work in progress, still competing for the starting job, adding another layer of uncertainty to a program under fire. If he gets the job, the 19-year-old will still have a tough schedule to follow.

The team’s path forward is fraught with obstacles, including a road opener at Georgia Tech, a daunting Big 12 gauntlet, a new offensive scheme under a reshuffled coaching staff, and persistent questions along the offensive line. So no one can really say anything until they see what they can do on the field against opponents. 

The biggest concern is that personality can carry a program only so far. At some point, results have to show up. Right now, between recruiting rankings, staff decisions, and public back-and-forths with both the media and alumni, Colorado feels like a program walking a very thin line between belief and backlash.