How Deion Sanders’ Colorado roster redo is landing with high school coaches in recruiting

BOULDER, COLORADO - APRIL 22: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes watches as his team warms up prior to their spring game at Folsom Field on April 22, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
By David Ubben
May 11, 2023

Deion Sanders’ roster clean-out at Colorado has inspired strong reactions throughout college football — including on the recruiting trail. Most of the takes from supporters or detractors of Sanders’ style ultimately matter little. But the opinions of high school coaches and the players they coach can be among the most valuable in the sport.

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Seventy-one of Colorado’s 84 scholarship players from last year’s roster are gone (17 graduated), and Sanders bluntly booted many after the Buffaloes’ spring game showcase on national TV.

The Athletic spoke with nine coaches of top prospects in Colorado, Texas and Florida — three key recruiting territories for a Buffaloes program that has also spent significant time recruiting the transfer portal and in high schools from coast to coast — to gauge their opinions on what Sanders’ aggressive moves in the past four months will mean for his recruiting efforts.

“Deion is going to be able to do things that most coaches are not able to do and get away with saying things that most coaches may not be able to say and survive because he’s Prime,” said Marcus Shavers, the coach at McKinney High in Texas. “His way of doing it is unique, but it’s provoking change. They’ve done a good job of making Colorado a sought-after place.”

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Sanders has long-established relationships in Texas, where he has a permanent home and lived before his detour into college coaching, and Florida, where he grew up and played college football before blossoming into one of the game’s all-time great cornerbacks. The coaches who spoke to The Athletic there were largely understanding of Sanders’ approach.

In Colorado, where he’s been a resident for only five months, his method has received a more complicated welcome.

Reaction in Colorado

“If I had my son and he was being recruited there, it would be hard to send him to CU because I don’t want them to have that experience,” said Bret McGatlin, coach at Valor Christian in Littleton, Colo. “To me, it would be a little scary.”

Valor Christian quarterback Asher Weiner and running back Gabe Sawchuk are two of the 10 best prospects in Colorado, per the 247Sports Composite, and together boast offers from places like USC, Arizona State, Arkansas and Kansas State. McGatlin said he hasn’t met Sanders but hosted tight ends coach Tim Brewster on a visit in December he felt was positive.

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“Colorado has been down so long you knew something drastic had to happen, but I don’t think anyone envisioned this would happen,” said Mike Vrana, coach at Vista Ridge in Colorado Springs, Colo. “We’re going to wait and see. If it works, he’ll be a genius. If it doesn’t work, he’s probably not going to be there long.”

Vrana’s former player Jalen Sami was a three-year starter on Colorado’s defensive line who entered the transfer portal April 25 after Colorado’s spring game. He has yet to commit to a new school. Last year, Vista Ridge had a quarterback (four-star Brayden Dorman) and receiver (three-star Brandon Hills) who were among the 10 best prospects in the state and signed with Arizona and Washington State, respectively. Vrana hasn’t heard from Colorado’s staff since they’ve taken over.

Jeff Fulton was the coach at Fossil Ridge in Fort Collins, Colo., before parting ways in April. He coached offensive lineman Gage Ginther, a three-star prospect and the top prospect in Colorado, whom the Buffaloes recruited heavily this spring. Fulton was complimentary of Colorado and offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle’s efforts to recruit Ginther, but the prospect’s desire to play in the SEC won out. Ginther committed to Tennessee last month.

It was three weeks after Ginther’s commitment when Sanders told most of the more than 25 players who entered the transfer portal after the spring game they didn’t have a spot at Colorado. In the last transfer portal opening April 15-30, six of the Colorado players who entered were natives of the state.

“If this is the way he’s going to do business, what message does that send to future Buffaloes recruits out there?” Fulton said. “How does that play out with a kid who is a current sophomore in high school? Is he leery of going to Boulder now because he might be told, ‘There’s the door?’

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“If you win, nobody cares. The proof is in the pudding. But if I’m a dad of a recruit, I would worry about how my son would be treated. Deion’s got a plan, but when you send your kid off to college, you trust the coaching staff to take care of your most prized possession.”

Sanders won’t have the same freedoms to cut players in the future that he’s had as a first-year coach, pairing a recent NCAA rule change for first-year coaches with the eliminated cap on the number of players a program can sign in one offseason to quickly flip his roster. But he’s shown little patience to keep players on his roster he doesn’t believe can contribute sooner rather than later.

The state of Colorado lacks enough elite talent to sustain a successful program on its own, but it doesn’t lack talent.

Vrana remembered Rick Neuheisel, the head coach at Colorado from 1995 to 1998, offering his own dose of blunt truth to coaches in the state. Vrana said Neuheisel planned to recruit the 10 best players in the state and go outside the state’s borders to fill the rest of his roster.

“We all respected the honesty,” Vrana said. “As coaches, we understand if you want to be a national power, you have to go outside the borders. But when something like this happens and kids get hurt, it’s probably not a good thing.”

In the Class of 2023, 16 Colorado prospects signed with Power 5 programs. Only one — offensive lineman Hank Zilinskas — signed with the Buffaloes.

Power 5 signees from Colorado
YearSignees
2018
8
2019
15
2020
12
2021
13
2022
10
2023
16

The view from Texas and Florida

“He’s not breaking any rules. He’s improving his roster,” said Reginald Samples, coach of Texas powerhouse Duncanville. “He’s improving his chances to win. He’s doing it according to NCAA rules. Who am I to question?

“Some people say it’s great, some people say it’s not so great. This is just happening in front of us now. We don’t know what it will mean going forward. I’m careful about making observations about what happens when the dust hasn’t settled yet.”

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Duncanville linebacker Colin Simmons is the top 2024 prospect in Texas. Samples is one of the most experienced and accomplished coaches in Texas and was named the national coach of the year in January by MaxPreps. He complimented Sanders’ staff for respecting his rules for recruitment within his program, namely his refusal to pull players from class to meet with recruiters or allowing recruiters to speak with players during practice.

The volume and nature of Sanders’ candid approach to running off players has made it stand out in a sport where it’s common practice.

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“It’ll go both ways. There will be a prospect or two who it rubs the wrong way, but there will be some guys who prefer that and want that upfront communication,” said Lakeland (Fla.) coach Marvin Frazier, who was promoted to head coach in January but helped coach five-star cornerback Cormani McClain last fall.

In January, Sanders’ staff flipped McClain, a Miami commit since October, as the Buff’s top-ranked addition in the Class of 2023 that features 19 high school signees.

McClain didn’t enroll early but did attend Colorado’s spring game. Afterward, Sanders sought out McClain’s family on the sidelines for a brief conversation and hugs on his way to the locker room.

“There will be guys who will use it on the recruiting trail. This is who Deion is. He stays true to himself and he believes this is his formula,” Frazier said. “He’s proven he can attract kids.”

Sanders’ celebrity has made Colorado a factor in recruiting battles coast to coast; with any other coach, it likely could have never competed.

“A Colorado offer is a big deal now to these kids,” Frazier said. “It was nothing last year. It’s a big deal now. That goes to show how great a job he’s done marketing himself.”

Frazier said it’s a “matter of time” before Sanders has the Buffaloes among the 10 best programs in the sport.

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“There aren’t too many players in the modern day who don’t want to play for Deion Sanders,” he said.

“It’s nothing against Colorado, but if Deion had gone to USF, it would have been a big deal. Kids would have wanted to go to USF. So until someone proves he can’t get the job done or it’s a fraud, it’s going to be a hot topic. Somebody’s going to have to get out here and prove it isn’t real or it’s a facade, but until then, coach Sanders is doing a heck of a job. I’m proud of him and excited for him.”

Two prominent Florida high school coaches declined to speak on the record with The Athletic about Sanders’ approach.

‘It’s the reality’

Ultimately, in a results-based business like college football, Sanders’ strategy will be judged by what happens on the field in the years to come. But those results could have profound impact on roster construction across the sport and could make Sanders more of a trendsetter than a lone disruptor.

“I think you’re going to see this being the trend more. You’ll have a group that’s your development group, your high school kids, and your portal group, the mix of kids coming in,” said Lake Belton coach Brian Cope, who coaches two of the top 10 prospects in Texas and said he’s been pleased with his interactions with Colorado’s new staff. “It won’t be full NFL where each year is different, but that’s where it’s heading.”

So far, Colorado has added 22 transfers from Power 5 programs with varied on-field experience. Of the players it lost to the transfer portal, just seven have committed to Power 5 schools, the latest coming Tuesday when wide receiver Jordyn Tyson announced his plans to play for Arizona State.

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“I wish it was better for the kids who committed to Colorado three or four years ago, but it’s a different world and a different profession now. At the end of the day, it’s the reality. It’s a business. The rules are different,” Frazier said. “If they were good enough to get D-I scholarships two or three years ago, they’ll land on their feet.”

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Said Fulton: “If he wins five games, he should be coach of the year in the NCAA from what he’s inherited. People are excited about what he’s doing. But some of those kids are pretty good players that have since entered the portal. I don’t know how you rebuild the roster that quick. Maybe it can’t be done in one year.”

Two coaches said when immediate eligibility for college football transfers debuted in April 2021, most programs held at least five spots in each recruiting class for transfers. They’ve seen that number rise and scholarship opportunities for high school players drop. If Sanders succeeds, coaches wonder if that trend will only grow.

“We kind of all look at it with a side-eye. I just don’t know if that’s how you do business, but if the program has been irrelevant for the last couple decades, you have to do something drastic,” Vrana said. “Right now, it doesn’t sound like there’s much opportunity for Colorado kids.”

Finding depth on a fully rebuilt roster stocked with transfers will be a difficult task in one offseason. But if a lack of depth shows up on the field in the fall, Frazier said that roster shortcoming would also become a recruiting pitch in the future.

“You hope they have success and this becomes a positive thing down the road. He had to come in and make changes as he builds his program. That’s the hope we all have as CU fans,” McGatlin said. “If it doesn’t show success in the next two, three, four years, it feels like a bigger setback for the program could happen. I’ve never seen anything like this in the college game. It’s intriguing to see. Maybe he’s onto something. Or not.”

 (Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

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David Ubben

David Ubben is a senior writer for The Athletic covering college football. Prior to joining The Athletic, he covered college sports for ESPN, Fox Sports Southwest, The Oklahoman, Sports on Earth and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, as well as contributing to a number of other publications. Follow David on Twitter @davidubben