Shedeur Sanders Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Buffaloes have had a ton of turnover on its roster since head coach Deion Sanders came to town. And according to star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, there were even some players that he doesn’t quite remember were even on the roster.

Former Colorado safety Xavier Smith transferred from the program in 2023 after playing in only one game in 2022 due to an injury. When Sanders came to town, he reportedly told Smith to enter the transfer portal to seek other opportunities, a moment which he told The Athletic “destroyed his confidence” in a harsh message to Sanders.

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

Smith also added that he felt like “a background character” for Colorado after deciding to initially stay at Colorado despite the warning from his new head coach, saying that he didn’t receive all that much help from the coaching staff whatsoever to potentially improve as a player to get some playing time.

Obviously, this complaint from Smith isn’t the nicest way to talk about his former coach. And Shedeur Sanders took to social media to rip Smith for his criticisms of his Dad.

“Ion even remember him tbh,” tweeted Shedeur Sanders. “Bro had to be very mid at best.”

As the quarterback of Colorado, Shedeur Sanders is supposed to be the leader of the team. So it is at least interesting to see him publically rip one of his former teammates like this.

Yes, he’s defending his dad here, which is fair. But was it really necessary to rip Smith in the process here?

That’s obviously up for interpretation. But on paper, it’s not exactly the best showing of leadership from Sanders here to publically criticize a former teammate.

[The Athletic, Shedeur Sanders on Twitter/X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.