2024 Colorado football transfer haul could be even better than 2023's: Analyst

Coach Prime's 2024 Colorado football transfer portal haul could be even better from a talent evaluation perspective, according to 247Sports' Carter Bahns; who ranked the Buffs at No. 2 behind Ole Miss on his national rankings.

"It may not be nearly as large as last year’s class, but Colorado’s transfer haul is still the second-biggest by volume among all programs thus far in the 2024 cycle," Bahns wrote. "Deion Sanders' commitment to the portal captured all kinds of headlines a year ago, but this group may actually be even better given the quality of player committing to the Buffaloes. Most notably, Sanders acquired all kinds of help in the trenches, filling his greatest need just a few short days into the winter window."

Mike Farrell Sports' Kyle Golik noted that Coach Prime's roster building is not dissimilar to Lane Kiffin's in Oxford.

"Kiffin has done wonders in the portal, scooping up elite transfers that have redefined the Ole Miss program," Golik prefaced before saying, "Ole Miss has demonstrated excellent balance in this regard. When you look at Deion Sanders' strategy at Colorado, they are extremely portal-heavy, significantly more so than Ole Miss. Coach Prime doesn’t travel to high school recruits and feels that the portal is their foundation, not a supplement, to their program."

Coach Prime's Colorado football tenure an early NIL era Case Study

Though Coach Prime has proclaimed that Colorado is not an ATM, he has played ball in the NIL era and brought in a record number of transfers during his short time in Boulder since his December 2022 hiring.

His 66 incoming transfers, and subsequent 50+ outbound transfers, has shown a new pace to college football player movement that's only been possible in the post-COVID waiver world.

Colorado is a Case Study for the current era of the sport, and the Buffs' 2024 season may be just as notable historically as 2023 was when it's all said and done.