Deion Sanders has yet to make an off-campus recruiting visit in more than two years since taking over as the Colorado football head coach in December 2022, according to USA TODAY Sports. Sanders has defended his unique recruiting strategy, explaining that it aims to save the university money on travel costs while giving prospects a firsthand look at Boulder. According to the report, his contract includes a $200,000 annual budget for private air travel for recruiting, which he has not used.
Sanders employs a unique recruiting strategy focused heavily on the transfer portal. In 2023, Colorado secured the No. 1 transfer class, adding over 50 newcomers ahead of its first season. The 2024 class followed with another major haul of more than 40 prospects, ranking among the top 10 nationally. The Buffaloes have signed just 46 high school and junior college prospects in the three recruiting cycles under Sanders.
«That’s how I recruit,» Sanders said in a January interview with ABC. «I don’t go to nobody’s school or nobody’s house. I’m not doing that. I’m too old to be going to somebody’s school, somebody’s house. All the kids that I’m recruiting, as a matter of fact, they in the (transfer) portal. They’re grown men with kids. They don’t need me to come around their crib and try to convince them to come play for me, nah.»
In contrast, the USA TODAY Sports report found that none of the top college football programs reached out to have a head coach with zero off-campus recruiting visits. LSU coach Brian Kelly made 257 off-campus contacts from December 2022 to early February 2024, while Nebraska coach Matt Rhule made 486 in the same period.
«I just think there’s a bigger thing we’re trying to get done, and that’s building a sustainable recruiting model where year after year, you have connections in the building and you’re one of the first teams people call,» Rhule told USA TODAY in April 2024. «To do that you have to be out, and you have to be present.»
Colorado defeated Nebraska 36-14 in the 2023 season, but the Huskers bounced back in 2024 with a 28-10 victory against Sanders and the Buffaloes to avenge that loss.
During an episode of The Football Recruiting Podcast in March 2024, 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins addressed the initial report that Sanders had not used any off-campus recruiting visits since arriving in Colorado.
«I think Deion is ahead of the curve,» Ivins said. «How many more in-home visits with head coaches are we really going to get with where the NCAA is going? They moved the early signing period up to the first week of December. The season runs through Thanksgiving weekend. Unless you’ve got a ridiculous NetJets account or your school owns a plan, how are you going to go see all your recruits? I think the in-home visits for college coaches are gone, dead. Especially if we get the summer signing period. Unless they allow those guys to go out on the road in April and May. We keep saying it’s going to more of an NFL model. The recruitment is done and it’s more of an interview process. I think Deion, I don’t know if he meant to do this, but he might have been a little ahead of the curve.»