Power 4 AD addresses Deion Sanders' Colorado football recruiting strategy

One Power 4 AD was elusive in answering whether or not Deion Sanders' 40-40-20 recruiting strategy with Colorado football will work over the long-term; expressing worries that there could be down-years depending on the talent brought in any given recruiting cycle.

"There's probably not enough of a data set to know yet," an athletics director at a Power Four program said (h/t CBS Sports). "It's a recipe to be really good but it's also a recipe to be a disaster in a given year, too, depending on the makeup of the guys you bring in. Can you change the culture on a guy who is 23-years-old? That type of thing. He's going to have great talent on his team. I don't care if that's from high school or portal, guys want to play for him and he seems to be a fun coach to play for. He's going to have talent. The jury is out, in general, on whether you can win consistently by going heavy in the portal."

Sanders had a 4-8 roster in 2023 but has an 8-2 roster this year that looks poised for a 10-2 finish, a Big 12 Championship berth, and beyond that, a potential College Football Playoff spot. While the Buffs are on top of the world right now, it wasn't long ago that Coach Prime was seen as all sizzle and no steak.

If/when there are struggles again in the future, the same "replace Deion" talks will come up again. But even with how unorthodox Coach Prime has been, true Buffs fans aren't prepared to discuss the alternative.

As long as Sanders is at CU, 40-40-20 will have to do.