New Colorado Buffaloes assistant coach Warren Sapp passed a background check before head coach Deion Sanders hired him before the upcoming season. The Buffaloes are excited to bring a six-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champion to help teach student-athletes in Boulder.
[tgdcta items=”1″ id=”177234″]
Sapp was the subject of controversy in January after Sanders told the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen he intended to hire Sapp for the 2024 season. “It better happen,” Sanders said.
Colorado Buffaloes were previously unaware of Warren Sapp’s candidacy
As previously discussed on GH, Brent Schrotenboer with USA Today quoted Colorado spokesman Steve Hurlbert saying there were no official conversations about hiring Sapp.
According to Brent Schrotenboer with USA Today, Colorado said they had no conversations about hiring Sapp with Sanders. Furthermore, the school said Sanders will not comment anymore about hiring Sapp:
“There have been no conversations about hiring Warren Sapp for an assistant coach position at the University of Colorado,” said Steve Hurlbert, spokesman for CU Boulder.
USA TODAY Sports then asked if there were conversations about hiring Sapp for any job there.
“Not at this time,” Hurlbert replied.
Hurlbert reportedly said Sanders would not comment beyond what he said previously about hiring Sapp.
Hurlbert also said Sanders isn’t going to comment beyond what he’s already publicly said about Sapp, which included him saying he was excited about “Coach Sapp” joining his staff.
There was speculation Colorado might block Sapp’s hire
Schrotenboer finished the report by referencing Sapp’s history of civil lawsuits for sexual harassment and other criminal charges. He quoted a statement from Violence Free Colorado that opposed Sapp being hired. Colorado had a domestic violence case involving a former coach in 2017.
Based on Schrotenboer’s report, Mike Florio with NBC Sports suggested the Colorado administration was against Sanders hiring Sapp because of his past. He thought Sapp’s hiring process could be a test of power to see how much sway Sanders has over the school.
There was no riff between Colorado and Deion Sanders about Sapp
GH reached out to Hurlbert to follow up on the story after it became official that Sapp was joining Sanders’ staff as a graduate assistant. Hurlbert said the narrative that the school was apprehensive about hiring Sapp because of his past was “overblown” in the national media. He said there was no riff between Sanders and the school about hiring Sapp.
Hurlbert said Sapp took all of the necessary steps for Colorado to hire him as a member of the coaching staff. Sapp passed a background check and met with the athletic department to ensure he was the right fit for the job.
Hurlbert said Sanders’ comments to Eisen this winter were “news to [Colorado]” at the time because Sanders had not notified anyone the athletics of his intention to hire Sapp.
The decision to ultimately hire Sapp was based on an “evolution” of finding out he worked with what Sanders, the coaching staff, and Colorado needed for the 2024 season.
Sanders is pleased to have a coach with NFL experience like Sapp join the program.
“Having someone with that level of NFL express is unusual and unprecedented,” Hurlbert said.
For More Football News:
Follow me on Twitter at @JordanSig. You can also reach out to Jordan Sigler via email at jordanmsigler@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in college and NFL news, click here!
