Colorado Coach Deion Sanders Reveals Buffaloes' Recruiting Strategy

Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders has brought a unique talent acquisition strategy to Boulder, Colorado, relying heavily on the transfer portal and supplementing the roster through high school recruiting. During his weekly press conference before Colorado's final game of the 2025 season, "Coach Prime" explained how the Buffaloes are planning to build their roster in the offseason:

"You want 15. You want about 15 to 17 high school kids. ‘Why do you say that, coach?’ Well, check the statistics. You get 30, are they going to be here in two years? Statistically, check the statistics, so when I talk to you, you understand what I’m saying. You understand why, the method to my madness. Nowadays, if kids aren’t playing by that spring of that second go around, they’re out. They jump in the portal," said Sanders.

Colorado Buffaloes recruiting Deion Sanders Julian Lewis transfer portal decommitment gavin mueller miami hurricanes — Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks along the sidelines late in the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Taking Oklahoma's 2023 recruiting class as an example, only 11 out of 26 former commits are still on the Sooners' roster. Oklahoma's class was ranked No. 6 in the country by 247Sports in 2023, and the Sooners did sign key contributors like safety Peyton Bowen. However, other high-profile recruits like quarterback Jackson Arnold and wide receiver Jacquaize Pettaway have since transferred.

The turnover at Oklahoma could be explained by Sooners coach Brent Venables' arrival in 2022, but a similar trend can be seen with Utah's recruiting class in 2023. Despite the Utes' continuity under coach Kyle Whittingham, only nine out of 22 recruits are still on Utah's roster.

"The strategy a year ago was the same strategy it was last year, and you hit on your portal guys. You hit on your freshman guys. This year, you hit on your freshmen, to me, some of them. And you missed on your portal, so that’s why we’re sitting where we’re sitting. It’s not like you didn’t have a strategic plan. No, you had a strategic plan, you missed. Sometimes it happens, and I’m going to take responsibility. I’m not going to say, ‘We missed.’ I missed," said Sanders.

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As mentioned by Sanders, Colorado was expected to be led by a number of transfers, namely quarterback Kaidon Salter, before the Buffs' season went off the rails. However, "Coach Prime" and his staff did hit on a number of transfers, including safety Tawfiq Byard, linebacker Martavius French, wide receiver Sincere Brown, and more.

Probably the most important recruiting win for Colorado was freshman quarterback Julian Lewis, who recently re-affirmed his commitment to "Coach Prime" and the Buffaloes. In the 2026 recruiting class, the Buffaloes are bringing in four-star talents like safety Preston Ashley and linebacker Carson Crawford.

Colorado recently suffered a few de-commitments with four-star Gavin Mueller flipping to Miami and three-star safety flipping to Indiana.