Cormani McClain took a vicious shot at Deion Sanders, Colorado upon transferring

Deion Sanders is currently at the heart of a college football spectacle while trying to rebuild the Colorado Buffaloes program. As part of a small spring transfer portal exodus, former 5-star cornerback Cormani McClain took a public shot at the coach before leaving.

As Kristen Wong of Sports Illustrated noted, the former 5-star transferring out of Boulder after one season took aim at Coach Prime and Colorado as he opened up on his decision to make this move, saying he "don't want to play for clicks".

Despite having a horrible offensive line and a four-win season, Colorado garnered a lot of attention from the media with Deion Sanders manning the headset, Shedeur Sanders slinging the ball, and Travis Hunter dazzling fans on both sides of the ball.

The attention seemed to reach its peak during Week 3 of the 2023 season when the Buffaloes played a rivalry non-conference game against Colorado State. For the entire week, Sanders and CSU head coach Jay Norvell seemed to trade barbs. Colorado needed every second to beat the in-state rival Rams in a game that foretold the late-season collapse of the Buffaloes.

Cormani McClain goes after Deion Sanders, Colorado amid transfer departure

McClain furthered the sentiment that Sanders was creating a circus-type environment in Boulder as he addressed what he was looking for when making his decision to leave Colorado for another program.

"I actually want to be involved with a great leading program that's going to develop players," McClain said.

Colorado would probably benefit from Sanders making fewer public comments that draw the ire of opponents and even, at times, the media. It's certainly great to drum up interest in the Buffaloes as Sanders takes over at the helm, but the amount of attention at this current moment -- especially in relation to losses in the portal and after a 4-8 season -- isn't conducive to fully turning the program around.

McClain's comments have been a common refrain throughout college football over the past year, most notably emphasized by Oregon head coach Dan Lanning in his pregame speech to the Ducks before drubbing Colorado when he said, "They're fighting for clicks, we're fighting for wins!"

Sanders has undeniably created a new, polarizing atomsphere around Colorado football. But whether or not that's good for the long-term health of the program remains to be seen.