Deion Sanders’ poor recruiting results are a major problem for Colorado’s rebuild – The Athletic

On Monday afternoon, Colorado player personnel director Corey Phillips took to social media to reassure Buffaloes fans.

It’s clear that Phillips is telling fans not to worry about the Buffaloes losing commitments from two quarterbacks (Danny O’Neil and Antwann Hill) and a running back (Jamarice Wilder) in recent 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 by the 247Sports Composite.

If you read the tea leaves of Phillips’ post, Colorado may have selected another quarterback prospect or have someone who feels comfortable coming through the transfer portal. Another Colorado recruiter, Darrius Darden-Box, posted the eyeball emoji — usually a sign of something to come — later in the day. Stay vigilant about this.

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

This is more of an overall overview of recruiting in Colorado.

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

GO DEEPER

Meet Danny O’Neil, Deion Sanders’ first hand-picked QB recruit in Colorado

That’s not what Sanders should be doing in Colorado. His high school recruiting numbers weren’t average despite late fireworks in the 2023 cycle. It was well below average, which is shocking given the rush of adrenaline his arrival brought to the Colorado program.

Colorado’s class of 2024 is ranked 65th nationally, three spots ahead of Colorado State. The Buffaloes have just nine commitments, including three ranked in the top 400 nationally.

Colorado’s class of 2024 commits

This is not June. It’s November 28th and we’re about three weeks away from prospects being able to sign with schools. There aren’t many elite-level young talents there either – only 12 of the top 200 players in the class remain non-committal.

Yes, Sanders can theoretically flip a five-star prospect in December, as he did with Cormani McClain last year and Travis Hunter at Jackson State the year before. But it seems unreasonable to think that Colorado will make a huge turnaround and somehow get into the top 30 class.

This course is almost finished. And it’s not at all what you’d expect from a Sanders build.

There’s no doubt about Sanders’ star power or the way he can captivate an audience. He is special and it was amazing how he was able to make a difference in Colorado in just a few months.

But that was hype.

What about the actual structure of the Colorado football program? This requires manual labor, elbow work and good old-fashioned hard work in recruiting.

Sanders’ roster turnover in Colorado was unprecedented. There were only nine players on last year’s Buffaloes team who were still on the roster at the start of the 2023 season. There’s no question that Sanders has used the portal to increase the base talent level of his roster, led by his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and Hunter, who may be one of the best players in all of sports.

But what now? Will he sign a high school class with perhaps a five-star prospect and cut another 60 players from the roster? Will he use the portal to rebuild an offensive line that can’t block anyone? It’s exciting when you turn someone else’s roster around. It’s harmful if you do it to players you personally brought with you. That means treating players like a commodity, and it’s a hard sell for future recruiting efforts, both in the high school ranks and in the portal.

Then I thought: When was the last time you saw a picture of Sanders at a high school? Or make a home visit? Or make a public appearance that isn’t an Aflac commercial? Does he even get on planes to recruit high school athletes? Does he even leave Boulder for recruiting purposes?

One thing is certain: Sanders does not recruit traditionally. He’s not a traditional coach, so it’s obvious he does things differently. But will he travel across the country to visit five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton from 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 on his staff ever set foot in Hunter’s high school in Georgia to recruit him in person. You could call this effective recruiting, and it is. But that’s not enough if 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 uses 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?

Additionally, Sanders has had some pretty serious problems with his foot, which may limit his physical performance.

At some point, however, Sanders has to stop being a celebrity and become a Power 5 football coach instead.

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

This is a critical point in Colorado construction. When the Buffaloes started 3-0, it was proof of how much fun it would be to play for Sanders. Colorado can offer prospects things that other mid-tier programs can’t. Given Sanders’ profile, the beauty of Boulder, the social media advertising and associated revenue, one might think this is a very attractive destination.

But we don’t see it. The results are not there.

And that raises the question of whether Colorado will ever truly achieve what Sanders promised.

(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)