Deion Sanders, Colorado to Give Players Transferring Access to Practice Film

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes football program have granted transferring players access to their practice film from 2022 and earlier after previously refusing to do so, the team said Wednesday, per ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.

This is in response to several players, including tight end Zachary Courtney and outside linebacker Kaden Ludwick, telling ESPN that the program would not give them film from fall 2022 practices.

Courtney addressed the situation Tuesday via Twitter:

“Colorado is happy to provide all game film and any practice film prior to spring 2023 to any student-athlete and institution upon request,” the team said in a statement Wednesday.

Courtney told ESPN that when he initially contacted Colorado’s video staff about obtaining practice film, they told him only game footage would be released.

“I didn’t expect to get so much attention to my post, and I wish I didn’t post now, because it put a bad look on both me and Deion, and I didn’t want Deion to have any bad rap,” he said. “I just wanted my film. I got hurt midway through the season, so I didn’t have enough game film to show. It would have been really nice to show, because I went against the first-team defense [in practice].”

Ludwick added that players typically had access to film through an iPad app but all film from 2022, including practices, was “wiped.”

It is standard for all players in the transfer portal to have access to their practice film, no matter which school they attended.

Courtney, who missed time last season because of injury and entered the transfer portal on April 19, received scholarship offers from Miami (Ohio) and Coastal Carolina without providing film, per ESPN.

Courtney was a 3-star prospect out of Texas when he committed to Colorado in the pre-Sanders era.

Ludwick also committed to Colorado in the pre-Sanders era and redshirted his freshman season. The linebacker was a 3-star prospect out of Oregon when he committed to the Buffaloes in June 2021.

More than 50 Colorado players have entered the transfer portal since Sanders took over as head coach after three seasons at Jackson State. Sanders was vocal about rebuilding the roster ahead of the 2023 season, telling players at his first team meeting to “hop in that portal.”

Sanders has done a strong job recruiting ahead of his first season with the Buffaloes, landing cornerback Cormani McClain, running back Dylan Edwards and wideouts Adam Hopkins and Omarion Miller.

Additionally, cornerback Travis Hunter followed Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado and the program has landed other transfers in quarterback Shedeur Sanders, linebacker Demouy Kennedy, tight end Seydou Traore and wideout Jimmy Horn Jr.

Colorado finished the 2022 campaign with a 1-11 record, and Sanders is hoping the team makes a miraculous turnaround in his first season at the helm.