"Our approach is heavily criticized, but we know what we're doing": Deion Sanders makes a statement on Colorado Buffaloes' recruiting process

Deion Sanders has defended his method of recruiting talent into his roster as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. During a press conference on Tuesday, Sanders addressed several issues surrounding his program at Colorado and his future as the team's coach. He discussed his player recruitment strategy, which has faced criticism for prioritizing the transfer portal over high school prospects.

“It's a tremendous balancing act between the portal and high school," Deion Sanders said (50:22-51:01). "I don't want to let you in on so many things, but let me just give you this for example. Just say we get 25 high school players, how many is going to play that freshman year? At the most let's say four or five, right? And so now you got 20 guys redshirted. How many are you going to retain after that spring or how many going to jump in portal on you?”

“Why don't I just focus on 10 guys that can see. When we grab a freshman, we expect that guy to play. We're not looking at, ‘hey man, we can just redshirt you, develop you.’ No no no no. We're looking for you to come in and play football. I don't give a damn if it's a walkon or a cash cleaver. We expect you to play.

"So our approach is somewhat different, heavily scrutinized, heavily criticized, but we know what we're doing.”

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Deion Sanders’ future at Colorado and recruiting strategy

After less than two full seasons on the job, Deion Sanders is already being linked to a potential departure from Boulder, with his name among those floated to replace Mike McCarthy at the Dallas Cowboys. However, he has reiterated his commitment to his ongoing project at Colorado.

Sanders is engineering a turnaround with the Buffaloes after an underwhelming first season. With Colorado at 7-2 and ranked No. 17 in the latest CFB Playoffs Ranking, Coach Prime can boast that his approach is working.

His strategy, dating back to his tenure at Jackson State, involves strategic recruitment through the transfer portal. He has overhauled the roster he inherited at Boulder, shipping out more than half of the players to make room for his recruits, including those he coached at Jackson State.

Notable among these recruits are quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback Travis Hunter. Shedeur is projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, highlighting his impressive contribution to Colorado's success this season.