Like most football coaches, Colorado’s Deion Sanders has a set of rules and expectations for his players.
This year, Sanders will make his players pay – literally – for certain violations.
On Friday at the first team meeting with the 2026 Buffaloes, Sanders had several coaches and team leaders speak to the team and go over many of the expectations.
He also put forth some expectations for conduct and a list of fines for violations, per a video on Well Off Media.
There will be fines for being late to practice ($500) or being a no-show for practice ($2,500); being late to a meeting or film session ($400) or being a no-show for a meeting or film session ($2,000); being late to a strength and conditioning workout ($1,000) or being a no-show to one of those workouts ($1,500); and for being late to treatment ($1,000) or a no-show for treatment ($1,500).
There will also be a fine for violation of team rules on a scale of $1,000 to $2,500, based on severity of the violation. And, for public or social media misconduct, there is a fine of $2,000 to $5,000, again based on severity.
In addition, there are fines for damaging university or team property ($3,000 plus the repair cost); losing team technology or equipment ($1,000 plus cost of replacement); and for misuse or destruction of athletic training equipment ($500 to $2,000).
Sanders’ notes added that there will be an appeal process for the students when they are fined.
Although the student-athletes are not technically employees, a BuffZone source said it’s permissible to fine the players because the fines are not tied to their name, image and likeness (NIL), revenue share or licensing agreements; the fines aren’t related to on-field performance; and they are strictly for violations of team rules.
The source also said other programs around the country have similar violation systems and what Sanders has implemented is “not something unique to CU.”
Money collected by the fines will go to CU athletic department operating funds.
New corners coach
Sanders has hired Aaron Fletcher as the Buffs’ new cornerbacks coach. He won’t be replacing anyone, however. Rather, he will work alongside Kevin Mathis, who has been the Buffs’ corners coach for three years and is now working with nickel backs and as the defensive pass game coordinator.
Fletcher was the co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Abilene Christian in 2024. He previously coached the secondary at Arizona State (2022), Missouri (2021), Tulsa (2015-20) and Houston Baptist (2012-14).
Fletcher also worked as a defensive analyst at Mississippi in 2023 and a training camp intern with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos.
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