Deion Sanders and Colorado are working to flip a 2026 DL away from an SEC school

Colorado has had to endure a lot of negative recruiting with regard to the health and future of head coach Deion Sanders. But after his press conference last Monday, all of the rumors were put to rest. Coach Prime is in Boulder to stay, and he's determined to build the Buffaloes into a championship program once again.

Sanders will have a delicate balancing act between now and December. He's currently working on getting his team ready for the season, will have actual games to worry about soon enough, and he still has a ton of work to do on the recruiting trail to bring Colorado's class up to par. He doesn't have the luxury of other programs, which have mostly already finished the bulk of their recruiting for the 2026 cycle, save for a few names and retaining the prospects that have already committed.

Coach Prime and his staff are on the hunt for uncommitted talent, but are also looking at flip targets across the country. One of those flip targets is 3-star DL Ben Duncum from Austin, Texas, who committed to Kentucky near the end of June.

Ben Duncum's recruiting has heated up since his commitment to Kentucky

Since he committed to Kentucky, Ben Duncum has seen his recruiting heat up. He received an offer from Colorado in late July, and then Auburn extended an offer at the beginning of August.

Numerous programs continue to chase the 3-star defensive lineman. He has a prototypical build with the potential to add a lot of good weight. He's listed at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, and figures to be able to play DE or add the necessary weight to shift inside to DT at the next level.

As noted in the post above, Colorado is hoping to get Duncum on campus for a visit this fall for a game. The gameday environment at Folsom Field has turned into one of the most elite environments in college football since Coach Prime came to Boulder.

It also doesn't hurt when you have an NFL Hall of Famer coaching your DL like Warren Sapp.

Whether or not a gameday visit will be enough to sway the Lake Travis product is unknown, but it has been enough for numerous recruits in the past who have been on the fence before making the trek to Boulder. Sanders and his staff know how to host a visit, and they know how to build relationships with recruits to ensure they feel like a priority.

It's only a matter of time before the fruits of Coach Prime's recent recruiting labors start to pay off.