The Colorado football program is having an eventful 2024 offseason. The Buffaloes have experienced a mass college football transfer portal exodus amid bringing in new talent for the roster. However, one of the players who left the team ahead of the 2023-24 season, safety Xavier Smith, had an interesting story about Deion Sanders' transfer communication. Moreover, Shedeur Sanders gave a striking response to it.

Xavier Smith was a freshman when former Jackson State coach Deion Sanders joined the Colorado football program. Smith recalled when Sanders told him he should enter the spring transfer portal to make room for the other talented players coming in. Yet, Smith initially chose to stay with the program.

When spring practices started, Smith claimed he felt more like an extra in the background of Sanders' reality TV show, per insight from the Athletic. He eventually got frustrated and transferred to Austin Peay.

The former freshman safety primarily took issue with the way Sanders' communicated his desire for him to hit the college football transfer portal.

“He was destroying guys' confidence and belief in themselves. The way he did it, it could've been done with a little more compassion,” Smith said via The Athletic.

“I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes. Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me,” Smith added.

It seems Xavier Smith did not appreciate Deion Sanders' transfer portal proposition. While Smith's frustrations are understandable, Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders fired back at his claims with a simple but bold response.

“Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be mid at best,” Sanders responded on X.

Sanders may not have remembered Smith, but does not necessarily discredit Smith's opinion. Smith was not the only one who had a hard time during Deion Sanders' transition.

Colorado football continues to deal with transfer portal aftermath

Former Colorado-turned-East Carolina receiver Chase Sowell gave insight into Coach Sanders' blunt conversation about entering the transfer portal.

“We knew it was going to happen, but we didn’t know it was going to happen that soon. He didn’t sugarcoat it,” Sowell said. “He was telling me, ‘You’re coming off injury. I don’t think you will be one of the guys we need to start this year. We need guys that are going to be ready to play now,” Sowell said, per The Athletic.

Sowell and Xavier Smith were two of several players who departed the program for Sanders' incoming contributors. Sanders' requests may not have been delivered in the best way, but his efforts were likely done to help elevate the program.

Colorado finished the 2022-23 season with a lowly 1-9 record, which placed them last in the Pac-12 standings. Deion Sanders knew the team needed a rehaul to improve. The Buffaloes did not make the jump they hoped for during Sanders' first year, but they took a step forward.

Shedeur Sanders and company finished the 2023-24 season at 4-8, a three-win improvement. The team has lost more players during the 2024 college football transfer portal period. Nevertheless, more stout contributors and recruits will join the team for the Fall.

In the end, Deion Sanders' methods and efforts will be further evaluated when the team hits the field for the 2024-25 season. Perhaps the work and uncomfortable times will mold the program into one of the top teams in the country.