Coach Prime is about to shake the portal like never before. With stars like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter heading to the NFL, Colorado is bracing for a major reload. Well, sixteen players are gone, but Deion Sanders isn’t backing down. The 20-day winter window has closed, but the spring portal is now wide open—from April 16 to April 25. This is where it gets real. After the Buffs wrapped their regular season, Coach Prime didn’t mince words, stating, “I am hitting that portal like never before.” And now, buckle up—CU’s next wave is coming with NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp leading the charge as the Buffs’ new defensive line coach.

The Buffs are coming off a bounce-back season to remember—finishing 9-4 overall with a trip to the Alamo Bowl to top it off. Even though they fell to BYU 36-14, it marked CU’s first winning season since 2016 and their first bowl appearance since 2020. So now, with momentum building, Coach Prime and NFL legend Warren Sapp are looking to level up in 2025. But the challenge is real. A wave of talent is headed to the NFL and the transfer portal, making the road tougher. And the latest blow? WR Adrian Wilson entered the portal Wednesday—the same day it opened.

So, Colorado’s spring buzz hit a sudden twist. However, not one but four players—along with WR Adrian Wilson, LB Taje McCoy, RB Isaiah Augustave, and DL Chidozie Nwankwo—entered the portal, sending shockwaves through the Buffs’ locker room. And the departures triggered raw emotion from new DL coach Warren Sapp.

On the April 17th episode of Thee Pregame Network, when Uncle Neely asked about spring progress, Sapp kept it real, stating, “I’ve been loving what we’ve been doing, but this transfer portal thing, man, you know, you get waking up with all of a sudden, you got three, four names that you need to call and text and find out if this is true, the rumors. And one of them was true, and I… it’s something new for me. It’s something new.” So, change is hitting fast. And Sapp is learning the portal game—one morning surprise at a time.

Here, Warren Sapp wore his heart on his sleeve as he opened up about losing players to the transfer portal. The Hall of Famer, now mentoring CU’s defensive line, didn’t hide how personal it felt. When asked how it hit him, Sapp dropped a heartfelt response, saying, “I figured, ‘Why would you want to leave a room with me? I’m here for you, baby. Over here for you. It’s all about you. It’s all about you.’I mean, I’m good, whatever I got going. And it’s been that way, and it’s going to stay that way. Absolutely.”

However, Warren continued, touching on the harsh reality of modern CFB, “I say all the time, that door swings both ways. You bring them in, you can take them out. Yes, it does. But that’s the first time it’s ever swung the other way on me.” Then came the gut punch, “And I… come on, you know how I am. I’m like a dad, man. One of my babies leaving, man, I’m not happy about this, but I’m going to make it work,” said Warren. So, it’s not just football for Sapp—it’s family. And when one of his ‘babies’ leaves, it hits deep.

While the NFL legend and new Colorado D-line coach is feeling the heat of the transfer portal era—and it’s personal—he’s coming to terms with what he calls a “scary” new reality. In today’s CFB, loyalty is fragile, and the door swings both ways. Sapp may be old-school, but he’s learning fast that the portal doesn’t care who you are.

Warren Sapp confronts harsh portal truth

During a raw and emotional moment on Thee Pregame Show, Uncle Neely recounted a behind-the-scenes exchange that cut deep. “Yesterday, Coach Bryan stops practice—once satisfied—calls a mandatory emergency team meeting,” said Neely. Adding, “Right at that meeting, you and I are talking to a player, and at no point in that conversation—it’s just me, you, and him in the room.”

Here, Warren Sapp jumped in, revealing his frustration and heartbreak: “Now, I’m sitting here arguing with the other coach that, ‘Yeah, he is this,’ and ‘Oh, he absolutely is that.’ Yeah, he is that. You, me, and you in agreement on this, ‘cause you down there with me watching this, we see it. And all of a sudden, he comes to me like, ‘Yeah, coach.’ I said, ‘Baby, how? I just spoke to you, had me go over to the job this morning, and I got kicked in the teeth.'”

“Yeah, fought for you, I got kicked in the teeth,” Sapp added, as Neely followed with: “Yeah, that made me question whether I’m seeing what I’m seeing, question whether my relationship is where I think it is.” Here, Sapp didn’t hold back and said, “That’s the scary part. That’s the scary… It’s all about relationship.”

But Neely echoed, “It is all about communication and trust.” Sapp, clearly shaken, replied: “What? And you got to trust what I’m with. I’m with you ‘cause there’s nothing I want in life than you to be able to have generational wealth, period. You can have my little salary at $6 million and it’ll take care. Look, let me tell you this, man, it’s this going…”

So, it’s clear—the transfer portal isn’t just shifting rosters. It’s shaking the foundation of trust between coaches and players.