Colorado is gearing up for its second season under head coach Deion Sanders, who has brought a bright spotlight to Boulder since taking over the head coaching job.
His confident and charismatic personality has caused some people to resent the type of program he is building, and the University of Colorado athletic department is making one reporter pay for his consistently negative coverage of the team, whether some of it was deserved or not.
Colorado has banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking questions to head coach Sanders and other members of the football program, the school confirmed Friday, according to ESPN's Kyle Bonagura. The Sporting News explains the situation below.
MORE: Sporting News 2024 college football Preseason All-America team
Colorado bans reporter from asking questions to Deion Sanders, Buffaloes players
Colorado has banned Denver Post columnist Keeler from asking questions to head coach Sanders and other members of the football team because of "personal attacks" on the program.
"After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events," the University of Colorado athletic department wrote in a statement to ESPN.
"Keeler is still permitted to attend football-related activities as a credentialed member of the media, and other reporters from the Denver Post are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel made available to the media, including coaches, players, and staff."
Two weeks before Colorado's decision, coach Sanders and Keeler had an awkward interaction during a press conference that resulted in Sanders asking Keeler, "What happened to get you like this?"
He followed with, "No, I'm serious. I want to help because it's not normal."
BENDER: College football 2024: Preseason top 25 rankings, bowl projections, All-Americans and more
The Post told ESPN that a CU athletic department media relations staff member told the news outlet that it "took issue with Keeler's references to Sanders."
In various articles, Keeler had called Sanders "Deposition Deion" and the "Bruce Lee of B.S." He also called him a "false prophet" and used terms like "Planet Prime," "the Deion Kool-Aid," and called the program a "circus."
On X, Denver Post sports editor Matt Schubert wrote, "It's well within anyone's rights not to take questions from @DPostSports reporters + columnists. The reasons listed here by CU, however, are entirely subjective. It would be more accurate to say, "We don't like @SeanKeeler's critiques of our program," while linking out to the Post's story on the matter.
This isn't the first time that Sanders has refused to answer questions from certain reporters or outlets.
Less than 10 days prior, Sanders responded to a CBS reporter's question with, "I'm not doing nothing with CBS. Next question." He added that it had nothing to do with the reporter but with CBS as an outlet, which ranked Sanders as the second-worst head coach in the Big 12 going into the season.
Sanders and Colorado will open its season with a Week 1 matchup on Thursday, Aug. 29, against North Dakota State at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
