It only took one major commitment for Coach Prime to get his confidence back on the recruiting trail. Colorado landed 4-star DL Emanuel Ruffin on Tuesday, which pushed the Buffs up to No. 76 in the 2026 recruiting class with their 12th commitment.
A big run appears to be on the horizon; Sanders has Colorado in a strong position for many highly-ranked prospects in this class, and there's little doubt that the Buffaloes will ultimately sign a good class as they always have under Coach Prime.
And few, if any, programs have done a better job stockpiling talent from the Transfer Portal. You know Sanders is going to have Colorado active during portal shopping season, but his ability to do so took a bit of a hit with the recent decision by the NCAA to trim the portal to just one window instead of two. Colorado had done quite a bit of work in the spring window since Sanders arrived in Boulder.
That's of little concern to Sanders. He wakes up every morning beaming with confidence. He's fine with the portal changes because everyone plays by the same rules. He also believes Colorado will get whoever they want, and when they don't, there's only one reason why.
"We're gonna get what we want," Sanders said. "We always do. And when we don't get what we want, that means somebody offered more money. That's it. We're gonna scout the players, and hopefully we get the type of guys that's not coming in here to play for money, they're coming here to play because they want to play for the Colorado Buffaloes."
Deion Sanders believes Colorado only loses recruits when they are outbid
Undoubtedly, Coach Prime's words will be divisive in the national media. It's a common excuse coaches and fanbases make when they lose recruiting battles: the other team outbid us, that's the only thing we can rationalize.
That certainly happens to everyone from time to time, but no coach wins 100% of their recruiting battles. Other programs have good coaches and strong recruiters, too.
What is true, however, is that Sanders has certainly won more than he's lost on the recruiting trail since coming to Boulder. He is making a strong push in the 2026 cycle despite getting a late start due to his health issues.
Colorado is trending for several major prospects and will continue to turn the heat up on elite targets who are committed to other schools.