Deion Sanders’ poor recruiting results major issue for Colorado’s build

On Monday afternoon, Colorado player personnel director Corey Phillips took to social media in an effort to calm Buffaloes fans down.

It’s clear that Phillips is telling fans not to be concerned that the Buffaloes have lost commitments from two quarterbacks (Danny O’Neil and Antwann Hill) and one running back (Jamarice Wilder) in the last few days. O’Neil is a three-star prospect in the Class of 2024 while Hill and Wilder are both in the Class of 2025. Hill, a Georgia native, is ranked in the top 100 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

If you read the tea leaves from Phillips’ post, Colorado might have another quarterback prospect picked out or have someone it feels good about coming in via the transfer portal. Another Colorado recruiting staffer, Darrius Darden-Box, posted the eyeball emoji later in the day — usually a sign that something is coming. Stay on alert for that.

But this isn’t about whether Colorado can replace O’Neil or land another big-time commitment. Deion Sanders has already proven multiple times he can pull a rabbit out of his hat late in a recruiting cycle.

This is more about a big-picture look at Colorado’s recruiting.

It’s bad. And it’s time to push the panic button.

This isn’t what Sanders was supposed to do at Colorado. His high school recruiting, even with late fireworks in the 2023 cycle, hasn’t been average. It’s been far below average, which is shocking given the shot of adrenaline his arrival provided the Colorado program.

Colorado’s 2024 class ranks No. 65 nationally, three spots ahead of Colorado State. The Buffaloes have only nine commitments, including three who rank in the top 400 nationally.

This isn’t June. It’s Nov. 28, and we’re roughly three weeks away from prospects being able to sign with schools. There aren’t a lot of elite-level prospects there for the taking, either — only 12 of the top 200 players in the class remain uncommitted.

Yes, Sanders can theoretically flip a five-star prospect in December like he did with Cormani McClain last year and Travis Hunter the year before at Jackson State. But it seems unreasonable to think that Colorado is going to go on some massive flipping spree and somehow wind up with a top-30 class.

This class is almost finished. And it’s nothing like what you’d expect from a Sanders build.

There’s no questioning Sanders’ star power or the way he can light up an audience. He is special, and it was astounding the way he was able to move the needle at Colorado in a matter of months.

But that was hype.

What about the actual construction of the Colorado football program? That takes manual labor, elbow grease and good, old-fashioned hard work on the recruiting trail.

Sanders’ roster flip at Colorado was unprecedented. There were only nine players on last year’s Buffaloes team who were still on the roster when the 2023 season started. There is no question Sanders utilized the portal to elevate the baseline talent level on his roster, headlined by his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and Hunter, who may be one of the best players in the entire sport.

But what now? Is he going to sign a high school class with maybe one five-star prospect and flip another 60 players off the roster? Is he going to use the portal to rebuild an offensive line that couldn’t block anyone? It’s exciting when you flip someone else’s roster. It’s detrimental when you do it to players you personally brought in. That’s treating players like commodities, and it’s a tough sell for future recruiting efforts, both in the high school ranks and in the portal.

Then it got me thinking: When was the last time you saw a picture of Sanders at a high school? Or doing an in-home visit? Or making a public appearance that isn’t an Aflac commercial? Does he even get on planes to recruit high school athletes? Does he leave Boulder at all for recruiting purposes?

One thing is for sure — Sanders doesn’t recruit traditionally. He’s not a traditional coach, so it stands to reason he approaches things differently. But is he going to travel across the country to visit five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton of IMG Academy in Florida, perhaps the most important player the Buffaloes could sign in the 2024 cycle?

Even when Sanders landed Hunter at Jackson State, neither he nor anyone from his staff ever stepped foot at Hunter’s high school in Georgia to recruit him in person. You may call that powerful recruiting, and it is. But that isn’t going to cut it when you’re trying to build a Power 5 program.

There may be reasons why he isn’t more aggressive in his off-campus recruiting efforts. He utilizes FaceTime to talk to prospects from all over the country and convince them to visit campus. Who wouldn’t want to hop on a plane to meet Deion?

Also, Sanders has had some pretty serious issues with his foot and that may be limiting what he’s able to do physically.

Eventually, though, Sanders is going to have to stop being a celebrity and start being a Power 5 football coach.

It’s almost December and coaches are on the move. If Nick Saban can get on an airplane to impress a teenager, so can Prime.

This is a critical juncture in the Colorado build. When the Buffaloes started 3-0, there was proof of concept of how fun it would be to play for Sanders. Colorado can offer things to prospects that other middle-tier programs cannot. Between Sanders’ profile, the beauty of Boulder, the promotion on social media and the income that comes with it, you’d think this would be a very attractive destination.

But we’re not seeing it. The results aren’t there.

And that makes it easy to question whether Colorado is ever truly going to get where Sanders promised it was going.

(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)