Colorado has banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking questions of football coach Deion Sanders or other members of the football program, the school confirmed Friday.

“Following a series of persistent, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department, in collaboration with the football program, has decided not to answer questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events,” the athletic department said in a statement to ESPN. “Keeler is still allowed to attend football-related activities as an accredited member of the media and other Denver Post reporters are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel who are made available to the media, including coaches, players and staff.”

According to the Post, a Colorado athletic department press officer told the newspaper it took offense to Keeler’s references to Sanders as “Deposition Deion,” the “Bruce Lee of BS” and a “false prophet” and his use of phrases such as “Planet Prime,” “the Deion Kool-Aid” and “circus.” The ban is indefinite, the Post said.

The decision comes two weeks after a press conference in which Sanders accused Keeler of “always being on the attack” and asked: “What happened to make you this way?”

Sanders added: “No, I mean it. I want to help because this is not normal.”

During the exchange, Keeler repeatedly asked if he could ask a football question and Sanders declined before moving on to a reporter who asked about his birthday plans. The reporter in front of Keeler at the press conference asked Sanders, “How important is it for everyone to have Aflac as a part of their life?” (Sanders is a paid spokesman for the insurance company.)

In his column after the press conference, Keeler described Sanders as “a confident man who suddenly looked, acted and sounded confident … scared.”

According to the Post, Sanders has unique provisions in his contract that state he can only speak to “mutually agreed upon media.”

In a social media post, Denver Post sports editor Matt Schubert said, “Everyone has the right not to answer questions from (Denver Post sports reporters and columnists). However, the reasons CU cites here are entirely subjective. It would be more accurate to say, ‘We don’t like Sean Keeler’s criticism of our program.'”

When asked by the Post for clarification, a Colorado sports information employee told the newspaper that “Keeler had not violated any specific media rules.”

Sanders has a history as a coach of using his influence to ban reporters from asking questions about his program. In 2021, a reporter for the Mississippi Clarion Ledger was barred from covering Jackson State, where Sanders was coach, during Southwestern Athletic Conference media day, a day after the Clarion Ledger published a story regarding a legal filing involving an incoming recruit who had been accused of assaulting a woman.

Sanders’ second season as Colorado coach begins Thursday against North Dakota State (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Buffaloes went 4-8 last season and finished in last place in the Pac-12.