Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders doesn’t travel to try to convince recruits to join. Instead, he utilized a unique method to do so.
Wave’s Bomani Jones explained the phenomenon on Wednesday.
Why Deion Sanders Doesn’t Have to Travel to Recruit
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders applies the motto “I ain’t hard 2 find.” Coach Prime, as he’s otherwise known, is the most noticeable coach in college football, and he uses that to his advantage when it comes to recruiting.
USA Today’s Shehan Jeyarajah reported in February that Coach Prime hasn’t visited a high school or home in back‑to‑back recruiting cycles. He did all his recruiting from Boulder, even though Colorado provides an annual $200,000 budget for travel.
On Wednesday, Wave’s Bomani Jones discussed Sanders’ unique approach on his podcast, “The Right Time with Bomani Jones.”
“Deion has figured out how to be a college coach who doesn’t actually have to recruit,” Jones said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m too old to be showing up at somebody’s high school.’ Tell that to the 65‑year‑old principal. Like, there’s somebody in that bad boy pushing a mop. What does that have to do with how old you are?
“Deion ain’t even gotta do that. He’s like, ‘I’m just Deion Sanders. A FaceTime from Deion Sanders will do the job. So if you can be a college coach and still have time to do a talk show on Tubi … then you go ahead and do that.’”
Sanders explained his confounding method in January, saying, “All the kids that I’m recruiting, as a matter of fact, they’re in the portal. They’re grown men with kids. They don’t need me to come around their crib and try to convince them to come play for me, nah.”
USA Today also examined Coach Prime’s recruiting practices prior to last season, a campaign in which his Buffaloes went 9‑4 and reached the Alamo Bowl. Perhaps Sanders’ biggest recruiting addition, two‑way star Travis Hunter, earned the Heisman Trophy. Hunter was taken No. 2 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in last weekend’s 2025 NFL draft.
“Straying from this traditional approach can become a focus point for critics if the team’s fortunes turn for the worse,” Brent Schrotenboer wrote last year. “In the case of (Chip) Kelly at UCLA, his record there (35‑34) and perceived dislike of recruiting led to grumbling among the fan base before he left to take an assistant coach’s job at Ohio State.”
KEEP READING: Deion Sanders Sounds Off On Antonio Brown
Having not hit the road to woo prospective players, Sanders notched the No. 38 recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, according to 247Sports. He enters the upcoming season without his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.
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