Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram claim Deion Sanders issuing player fines hints at locker room issue at Colorado

The decision by Deion Sanders to begin fining Colorado players for attendance and conduct violations has sparked strong reactions across the college football world, prompting concerns from former players and coaches about the state of the Buffaloes’ locker room.

Speaking on The Triple Option, former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram framed Sanders’ new policy as further evidence that college football has begun to mirror the NFL. Under Sanders’ system, Colorado players can now be fined portions of their NIL earnings for tardiness, missed practices, skipped meetings and other violations.

Ingram said the structure itself wasn’t surprising, but the reason behind it might be: “That shows you that it is the new NFL,” Ingram stated. “But I think the biggest storyline here is that Prime has an issue within the locker room, within the culture, that he has to address this.”

Evidently, Ingram believes the fines indicate a lack of accountability among players, pointing out that rules like these typically only become necessary when standards aren’t being met.

“If that wasn’t going on within the culture of your locker room, you wouldn’t have to address it,” Ingram added. “Guys aren’t being accountable. Guys aren’t being professional like they should be.”

Former Ohio State and Florida head coach Urban Meyer echoed those concerns. He questioned both the severity of the situation and why the policy became public in the first place. 

Meyer said discipline systems should remain internal, and warned that frequent fines often point to deeper problems: “If you’re fining people a lot, you’ve got bigger problems than collecting a couple thousand bucks,” Meyer explained. “You’ve got a serious issue.”

Continuing, Meyer referenced his time around NFL locker rooms, specifically the New England Patriots led by veterans such as Tom Brady, Mike Vrabel and Teddy Bruschi, emphasizing the importance of internal leadership. 

In his view, elite teams rely on “alphas” within the locker room to handle issues before they ever reach the head coach: “He better get some alphas in the locker room,” Meyer proclaimed.

Alas, Sanders’ policy includes fines ranging from $400 for being late to meetings to $2,500 for missing practice, with additional penalties for public or social media misconduct. The timing is notable, as Colorado has added 41 new players through the transfer portal and early enrollees, continuing Sanders’ aggressive roster overhaul approach.

The Buffs are coming off a disappointing 3-9 season in 2025, a sharp contrast from their nine-win campaign the year prior. That was led by Shedeur Sanders and Heisman winner Travis Hunter. 

With expectations reset and culture under scrutiny, Sanders is clearly prioritizing discipline as Colorado prepares to open the 2026 season against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Sept. 5. Whether the fines stabilize the program or further expose underlying issues remains to be seen.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.