Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi is never afraid to share his thoughts on college football's hottest topics, and now he's put Deion Sanders and his use of the transfer portal to overhaul the Colorado roster ahead of his debut season in his crosshairs. In a recent interview with 247Sports' Brandon Marcello, Narduzzi blasted Sanders' tactics after the Buffaloes saw an unprecedented number of players depart the program while "Coach Prime" uses the portal to replenish the talent to his liking.
"That's not the way it's meant to be," Narduzzi told Marcello at ACC spring meetings. "That's not what the (transfer portal) rule intended to be. It was not to overhaul your roster. We'll see how it works out but that, to me, looks bad on college football coaches across the country. The reflection is on one guy right now but when you look at it overall -- those kids that have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and goals in life -- I don't know how many of those 70 that left really wanted to leave or they were kicked in the butt to get out."
While Narduzzi is not the only one who's voiced concerns on this particular topic, Sanders did make his intentions clear at a team meeting in December after coming over from Jackson State.
"I want y'all to get ready to go ahead and jump in that portal and do whatever you're going to get, because the more of you jump into (the portal), the more room you make because we bring in kids that are smart, tough," Sanders said.
The program has seen 51 scholarship players enter the transfer portal since Sanders took over the program. Sanders replaced that production by adding 47 players (and counting) from the transfer market, by far the most roster turnover since the NCAA adopted its new transfer rules two years ago.
"I grew up in a profession that you can't tell a guy that he has to leave based on athletic ability," Narduzzi said. "I think he'll be shocked that he probably had some pretty good football players in that room. When I got to Pitt back in 2015, I didn't kick anybody off. Zero. Those are your guys. When you become a head coach you inherit that team and you coach that team. If someone wants to leave, that's great. You don't kick them out. I disagree with that whole process. That's not why I got in the game."
This is not the first time Narduzzi has been critical of a team's portal usage. In 2022, Pitt wide receiver and reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison transferred to USC. Narduzzi heard the USC chatter before Addison transferred and allegedly called Trojans coach Lincoln Riley multiple times to express his displeasure and discuss the potential of tampering, according to ESPN. Riley later responded and shot down Narduzzi's allegations.
