Colorado Buffaloes Make Elite Recruit Tanner Seaton’s Final Five Against Three SEC Teams

Colorado Buffaloes offensive line coach Gunnar White has built deep recruiting ties in his home state of Mississippi, and top 200 lineman Tanner Seaton just put Colorado in his final five.

Deion Sanders has pushed Colorado toward a larger high school recruiting class after three transfer-heavy cycles | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Madison, Mississippi, sits in the heart of SEC recruiting territory. Boulder is roughly 1,200 miles away, yet the Colorado Buffaloes are still in the final five for one of the state’s better 2028 offensive linemen.

Tanner Seaton, a 6-5, 293 interior offensive lineman at Madison Central High, released his final five Thursday on social media. Colorado joins LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Memphis, making the Buffaloes the only program on the list from outside the Southeast.

Seaton holds 15 offers in the 2028 class. 247Sports ranks him No. 169 nationally, No. 12 among interior offensive linemen and No. 6 in Mississippi.

His announcement on X was brief: “Blessed to be in this position.”

Gunnar White Keeps Winning in Mississippi

Nov 22, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes offensive lineman Jordan Seaton (77) before the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Folsom Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Colorado offensive line coach Gunnar White is the connection that makes the distance less surprising. The Mississippi native followed coach Deion Sander from Jackson State to Boulder and took over the offensive line before the 2025 season after Phil Laodholt left for Mississippi State. 

White made 376 recruiting evaluations in Mississippi across January, April, and May 2025, according to recruiting logs obtained by USA Today Sports. Three Mississippi players later committed to Colorado.

That work has carried into the next cycle. 247Sports lists White as the No. 2 recruiter in the Big 12 for the 2027 class, behind Kansas State defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson, and credits him as the lead recruiter on six Colorado commitments.

Sanders was asked about White’s rise during a Monday press conference, and he made it clear he saw it coming.

“I’m not new to Gunnar’s work. Gunnar came from Jackson with us. You guys are new to Gunnar’s work,” Sanders said. “I’m not new to who Gunnar is and why he’s on the coaching staff as the offensive line coach. Gunnar, he’s been the same guy since the day I met him.”

Why the offensive line remains the priority

Georgia transfer Bo Hughley joined a Colorado offensive line rebuilt for the 2026 season | Bo Hughley/X

Colorado rebuilt the entire front after former left tackle Jordan Seaton transferred to LSU in January. The Buffaloes added offensive linemen Bo Hughley from Georgia, Jayvon McFadden from Ohio State, Demetrius Hunter from Houston, and Leon Bell from Cal as part of the reset.

Transfers can solve an immediate depth chart problem, but the 2027 and 2028 classes offer Colorado a way to avoid rebuilding the same positions every January. The 2027 group became the program’s first class since 2023 with more than 18 high school commitments.

White can also sell early opportunity. Offensive guard Jayvon McFadden played 15 snaps at Ohio State before earning first-team reps at right guard in Boulder, while offensive guard Chauncey Gooden went from 18 snaps as a first-year player to starting at left guard. For young linemen looking at Colorado, the path to the field has been short.

White has time on his side. Seaton cannot sign until December 2027, leaving Colorado more than enough time to keep building a relationship that was already established before the final five graphic appeared.

Deion Sanders jogs the football field during the second day of Cleveland Browns training camp, July 30, 2026, in Berea, Ohio. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

During the Aug. 10 press conference, White explained the recruiting shift, crediting Sanders for setting the direction.

“It starts with Coach Prime,” White said. “He wanted to set a mission for the recruiting to be different. In the past, we haven’t been heavy on high school guys, but this season, he said he wanted 20 or 21. I wanted to make sure that I was at the forefront of that, and it all starts up front with the offensive line and the defensive line, too.”

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