Coach Prime’s 2024 Colorado recruiting class rightfully deemed disappointing
Coach Prime’s 2024 Colorado football recruiting class was (rightfully) deemed disappointing thus far by Mike Farrell Sports’ Alec Nederveld; who foresees the Buffs heavily utilizing the transfer portal to make up for what is, as of this writing, a No. 65-ranked minimal high school haul.
“I thought Deion’s strength would be recruiting,” Nederveld prefaced before saying, “He brought four and five stars to FCS HBCU Jackson State, something that had never been done. Before taking over, Colorado classes ranged between the 30s and 60s. In his first season, the Buffaloes finished 29th, landing some big flips late in the cycle.
“As of writing, Colorado’s 2024 class is ranked 65th with only nine commits. For comparison, Deion’s first class at Jackson State ranked 52nd. Recently, three recruits have decommited from Colorado. 2024 three-star QB Danny O’Neil, 2025 four-star QB Antwann Hill Jr., and 2025 three-star RB Jamarice Wilder have announced they will reopen their recruitment. It appears Deion will heavily use the portal again, but the class is disappointing.”
Coach Prime’s reliance on the transfer portal for Colorado football recruiting leaves the door open for a job jump
For years, Lane Kiffin would use the transfer portal to strengthen Ole Miss’s ranks year in and year out — and to a degree, Kiffin still uses those practices to build his Rebels roster. In many ways, it’s shocking Kiffin is still in Oxford considering his job-hopping tendencies and the lingering feeling that he has unfinished business in the NFL. But the use of the transfer portal wasn’t shocking, since another job jump is what most expected of Kiffin.
Could Coach Prime be setting up his own job jump from Colorado considering the lackluster results he’s had in high school recruiting in his second class?
Well, when his sons Shedeur and Shilo depart for the NFL after the 2024 season, and Travis Hunter also likely declares for the draft, there isn’t a foundation for Deion Sanders to fall back and rely on in 2025 as of this writing. If Coach Prime doesn’t hit big in the transfer portal à la TCU in 2022, it feels likely that he’ll look for a program with more recruiting pull in order to get his coaching career back on the winning track.