USC head coach Lincoln Riley fully supports what Deion Sanders is doing to help rebuild build the Colorado program on the fly by way of the transfer portal.
While Deion Sanders may not be making a ton of friends with other Power Five head coaches these days since taking over at Colorado, he seems to have a friend, for now, in USC's Lincoln Riley.
The big divisive issue attached to what Sanders is doing in Boulder has everything to do with how aggressive he has been in flipping his Buffaloes roster. The rules in place allow incoming head coaches more leniency to get their guys in faster. Yes, that controversial team-building tactic has cost former Buffaloes players their scholarships, but things are going to be way different now.
In his final Pac-12 Media Days before USC heads to the Big Ten with UCLA in 2024, Riley came out and defended Sanders about his massive overuse of the transfer portal. This is legal, by the way…
This is not that hard to figure out, as Riley was a massive proponent of the portal last year when he came aboard after a stellar five-year run leading Oklahoma. They are one and the same here…
USC's Lincoln Riley not so surprisingly defends Deion Sanders' Colorado rebuild
Look. This seems totally expected and not all that hard to figure out. Like Sanders, Riley has a job to do. USC was awful prior to his arrival in Los Angeles last season. In year one, Riley had the Trojans playing for the Pac-12 Championship and reaching a New Year's Six bowl. The mountain is higher to climb for Sanders at CU, but this program could yield a playoff team within a few years.
You have to ask yourself these questions: Is college football better with USC being down? Is Colorado more interesting with Sanders roaming the sidelines of Folsom Field? What is it going to take to make these two situations better? It is pretty simple, really: Recruitment and hitting the transfer portal. College football now has full-blown free agency so we best just embrace it, man.
Frankly, I think the coaches that are pushing back so hard on what Sanders is doing are one of two things: Insecure in themselves as coaches, as well as scared about what could happen if Sanders gets the Buffs back to playing at a Bill McCarthy era level. Believe me, I want this to happen. We all should. Not just because Sanders is an icon, but his success will create opportunities for others.
Good for Riley taking a firm hard stance on the right side of the issue, even if it is very unpopular.
