Deion Sanders’ unwanted Colorado commits searching for a new home

Carson Mott had a feeling this was coming.

The three-star defensive end from Simi Valley (Calif.) High School committed to Colorado in June. But as soon as he logged onto social media and saw the footage of Deion Sanders all but begging the current Colorado players to hit the transfer portal so he could bring in his own prospects, Mott deduced where this was headed.

Deion Sanders meets & talks to his Colorado football team for the first time pic.twitter.com/fMpFMwDXfN

— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) December 4, 2022

“I mean, you saw the interview. He’s ‘bringing his luggage’ in his ‘Louis,’” Mott said, paraphrasing Sanders’ speech. “And I guess I didn’t fit the description of what he wanted. … I had a feeling that my commitment wasn’t going to be honored.”

Mott’s intuition was right. He tweeted Dec. 5 that Sanders and his new staff had elected to not honor his commitment — 16 days prior to the beginning of the early signing period.

“It was hectic,” Mott said. “It was a huge mess. I actually never got contacted by Deion or any of his new (on-field) staff. I got called. They told me that coach Deion didn’t want to honor my commitment and hung up the phone. I was in a group chat with all the other commits and they were all I guess freaking out, too, because a lot of us had our options closed for months now being committed to Colorado. So we hadn’t reached out to any school. It was a whole big deal.”

Mott said his phone call came from Colorado’s assistant director of player personnel/scouting, D.J. Bryant. About three days later, Gerald Chatman, Colorado’s defensive coordinator and defensive line coach in 2022, called to check in on him, given the relationship the two had built during the recruiting process.

Mott, the nation’s No. 974 prospect and No. 92 edge rusher in the 247Sports Composite, said he committed to Colorado because he loved the location of the school — he’s an avid outdoorsman — and developed a close relationship with the coaching staff and players.

Now that Sanders has stripped his scholarship offer, Mott is about to go through the recruiting process for the third time. Mott initially committed to California in May but said he decommitted later that month due to a shake-up on the Bears coaching staff.

To Mott’s surprise, his current recruitment is going well. After the Colorado situation unfolded, he and his parents decided he will not sign until February to alleviate any added stress between now and Wednesday’s early signing period. He will also have plenty of time to take official visits.

He said San Diego State, Washington, Washington State, New Mexico State, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana and Weber State have all extended offers, and he has recently chatted with San Diego State, Washington State and Montana about an official visit.

He understands that his situation is part of the recruiting process. “I can’t complain too much. A lot of kids dream of this and it was my dream. So I’m just going along with it.”

But he admits the recruiting process has been a grind.

“This — if I’m being honest — journey has not been fun whatsoever,” he said. “It’s been stressful, annoying. Everything that I didn’t imagine it to be, it was. I just want to get it over with.”

13 departures

In all, 13 recruits have parted ways from Colorado’s class since Sanders was hired. Several have already found a new home. Others are in the process of doing so. What bothers at least two former commits, they say, is that Colorado athletic director Rick George called and asked them to remain committed to the program shortly after former coach Karl Dorrell was fired in October.

“I was told by Rick George I was going to have a scholarship regardless of who the coach was going to be,” said Tyrone McDuffie, an offensive lineman from El Paso (Texas) Parkland High. “He called me and my dad and he wanted the 2023 class to stay together. He said I was going to have a chance to be a Colorado Buffalo regardless of who he hired. They even sent former offensive line coach (Kyle) DeVan down to El Paso, Texas, to talk to me and my head coach and tell me stuff is going down, but you’ll still have a chance to be a Colorado Buffalo.

“Nobody from the new coaching staff called me. (Bryant) called me and told me what went down. You could say there was a little bit of anger, frustration. This was our future they were messing with. It sucks because we could’ve been looking instead of having only 16 days before signing day.”

Three-star linebacker CJ Turner of Star City, Ark., was the top-ranked recruit (at No. 742) to drop out of Colorado’s class. He said former Jackson State linebackers coach Andre’ Hart, who is expected to join the staff at Colorado, called him a few days after Sanders was hired to inform him that his scholarship offer would not be honored. Turner then received a follow-up call from Bryant to confirm that he would not be part of the class.

Turner said he was heartbroken when Hart told him Colorado was going to sign only one high school linebacker and it wasn’t going to be him. Turner, who received an offer from Jackson State in February, said he wished “Coach Prime” would’ve called him.

“When Coach Dorrell was fired, (George) had said we were going to have our scholarship offers honored,” said Turner, who reportedly pushed away interest from Florida State because he was set on playing at Colorado. “I was surprised when I got the call. It was so late in the recruiting process. I wish I was told earlier.”

Turner said he still speaks with Arkansas State, Memphis and Bowling Green. He doesn’t want to get left without a scholarship and isn’t sure if he’s going to delay signing until February.

“I already took a trip to Arkansas State and Memphis and have a relationship with the coaches,” Turner said. “I might sign in a week. But if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. You have to accept it. It hurts, obviously, but you have to move on from the situation.”

McDuffie said he visited New Mexico State and UTEP over the last two weeks and was recently offered by Grambling. “We’re just trying to find the best fit for me overall,” he said.

McDuffie said he tried to contact George shortly before Sanders was hired at Colorado.

“I don’t know what happened with his phone. I don’t know if he blocked our numbers,” McDuffie said. “But we couldn’t get a hold of him at all. What I appreciate more than anything is honesty. He could’ve told us, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, start looking at other schools now.’ But to say one thing and another happen, it hurts.”

The Athletic contacted George to confirm that he did tell Colorado’s 2023 commits that their scholarship offers would be honored. He issued the following statement: “Any time there’s a coaching transition, many changes occur throughout the program. Every new coaching staff has the opportunity to do what’s best for the team, and despite the unfortunate timing of the current recruiting calendar, difficult decisions were made as timely as possible.”

A Power 5 recruiting coordinator said it is not uncommon for a new coach such as Sanders to pull scholarship offers from previously committed prospects.

“They’re trying to get their type of guys in — right, wrong or indifferent,” the recruiting coordinator said. “And it might work out sometimes where you do end up liking a lot of the guys you have in the current class. But I’d be shocked this late in the process if a school has ever had a class completely filled up and a new coach came in and he honored every single one of those scholarships.”

It is, however, not as common for an athletic director to get involved.

“That would be weird to me,” the recruiting coordinator said. “I’ve never heard of an athletic director getting involved. That’s a first for sure. That’s not something that would ever happen here. That’s foreign to me.”

New landing spots

Jamari Holliman, a 6-foot, 180-pound three-star cornerback from Miami (Fla.) Norland, who had been committed to Colorado since August, said he never received a phone call from Colorado after Sanders was hired. Holliman said he reached out to Rod Chance, who was going to be his position coach.

Chance told him he had been fired and gave Holliman a phone number to call in Boulder to find out if his scholarship offer would be honored. Holliman said he texted and called the number for a week but never got a response. So he moved on and committed to FIU, where he’ll play for former Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre.

“The longer I waited the more I jeopardized being able to land a spot,” said Holliman, who was previously committed to Toledo before flipping to Colorado in August so he could play at the Power 5 level. “I didn’t want to do that. Not when there was a school in my own backyard that really wanted me. What happened was crazy, but it’s recruiting. College football is a business. Nothing against Prime. At the end of the day, if they felt I didn’t fit their play style, that’s their loss. They’re losing a great player. They’re going to feel me.”

Some former Colorado commitments have found a new home at the Power 5 level.

AJ Newberry, a three-star running back from Grand Prairie (Texas) South, committed to Vanderbilt last week. The Commodores jumped on him in mid-October, two weeks after Dorrell was fired. Newberry, a track standout, ran for 1,736 yards and 23 touchdowns as a high school senior. Tucker Ashcraft, a three-star tight end from Seattle O’Dea, committed to Wisconsin on Tuesday shortly after visiting Madison.

Andrew Metzger could still end up playing for a Power 5 program. The three-star tight end from Aurora (Colo.) Regis Jesuit said earlier this week that he decommitted from Colorado after being re-offered by the new staff. He visited Nebraska last week and was set to visit Kansas State this week.

This is my formal de-commitment from the University of Colorado. I’m grateful for Coach Dorrell and Coach Patterson for believing in me. I would also like to thank the new Colorado staff for re-offering me. Thank you to everyone who has helped me in this journey.

— Andrew Metzger (@AndrewMetzger87) December 14, 2022

Mott could end up heading to another Power 5, as well, if he decides to commit to either Washington or Washington State. What’s a school getting in him?

“I’m a true edge,” he said. “True pass rusher. I like to play fast and I like to go attack the quarterback. Whatever school’s gonna get me is gonna get a new sack record holder. I will hold the record at any school I go to. And I’m gonna make sure that the scholarship that they give to me was worth it.”

And what’s he looking for?

“Honestly, just a home,” he said. “I want a home. … Somewhere that suits me.”

(Photo courtesy of Carson Mott)