Colorado’s Preston Ashley Gets Real With Teammates at Spring Practice

The Colorado Buffaloes signed defensive back Preston Ashley in their 2026 recruiting class. Ashley is now an enrollee at Colorado and is making his presence felt on the practice field during Colorado spring ball.

Preston Ashley Gets Honest With Teammates

Colorado Buffaloes Preston Ashley Defensive Back Three Star Recruit Class of 2026 Recruiting Deion Sanders Coach Prime — Brandon High cornerback Preston Ashley has been named to the Clarion Ledger 2025 Dandy Dozen. | Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

At Buffs spring practice, Preston Ashley got up and spoke in front of the team. The video of him speaking was posted by Darius Sanders on YouTube. Ashley talked about a specific play in practice and got real.

He brought up a moment in practice where Buffs wide receiver Quannell Farrakhan Jr. made a play on him. Ashley admitted to not giving his all and was sent off the field by the Colorado cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis. He said how he appreciated the coaching staff being hard on him in that in moment.

“There was one play where Quannell, No. 14, he pushed me and he made a play and I was b*llshit. I didn’t give it my all, so coach sent me off the field,” Ashley said. “I just appreciate coach because I love people that stay tough on me…I said ‘coach I appreciate you getting on me because I need that.'”

🔥 Preston. Gets Honest With Team. Striving for Excellence 💛🦬

"I was BS I didnt give it my all. Coach sent me off the field. I said coach I appreciate you getting on me bc I need that" https://t.co/9FjrWWeAOa pic.twitter.com/kxCudkKbCI
— JaKi 🇺🇸 (@JaKiTruth) March 12, 2026

Preston Ashley is a 5-11, 185 pound cornerback out of Brandon, Mississippi. He was rated as a three-star recruit and the No. 28 safety in the class of 2026 per 247Sports. As a senior for Brandon High School in the 2025-26 season, Ashley had 37 solo tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, six passes defended, one sack, and one interception.

New-Look Colorado Buffaloes

Ashley is one of 16 players in the high school recruiting class of 2026 to sign with Colorado. The only one 247Sports rates higher than him is four-star linebacker Carson Crawford.

This wasn’t the most highly touted recruiting class as 247Sports ranks it No. 57 in the country. Under coach Deion Sanders, the Buffs have primarily relied on the transfer portal and the same is true about this offseason.

Colorado brought in 43 incoming transfers, which is among the most in the entire country. What makes this number shocking is that the handful of other schools with an incoming transfer number that high are schools that have a new head coach leading things. That’s not the case for Colorado.

The Buffaloes are entering the fourth season of the “Coach Prime” era. Deion was hired prior to the 2023 season and the program has had its ups and downs.

Coming off a 1-11 2022 season, Colorado went 4-8 in year one under Deion in 2023. 2024 was a big step in the right direction as they improved to 9-3 in the regular season, qualifying for a spot in the Alamo Bowl.

2025 was a major regression as Colorado won just three games, finishing with a record of 3-9. It’s back to the drawing board for the Buffs, who hope that the combination of this recruiting and transfer class to go along with a revamped coaching staff will turn the tide.

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