Deion Sanders’ Struggles In Recruiting Could Be Explained By His Unusual Approach To Visits

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders

Getty Image / Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic


Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders his a very, very busy man. So busy, in fact, he hasn’t had time to do a single in-home recruiting visit since taking over as head coach in Boulder, Colorado.

For real though, the former Heisman winner at FSU is always on the go. He’s managing a staff of assistant coaches and aides. Coach Prime is constantly filming for both his TV show for Amazon Prime and his YouTube channel along with additional social media clips. Deion Sanders also has numerous high-profile partnerships he has to shoot commercials for. He’s a full-time dad and about to become a grandpa. Heck, he was even on the TODAY Show this morning promoting a new book he just released.

The man is everywhere except one place: visiting recruits at home like every other coach in the nation does because it’s extremely important to parents to be able to look a coach in the face in the comfort of their own home and ask that coach questions about how they’ll take care of their son should he join the coach’s squad.

A new report from USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer revealed this quirk in Deion Sanders’ approach to recruiting visits. Records obtained by USA Today revealed that Deion Sanders has not done a single in-home visit with recruits since taking over as head coach at the University of Colorado. The same documents also revealed that Deion Sanders has not used the school’s private jet for any recruiting visits since taking over as head coach. Not a single one according to the school who simply said “Coach Prime did not conduct any off-campus recruiting visits.”

Deion Sanders Hasn’t Done A Single Home Recruiting Visit Since Being Hired By Colorado

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders’ first recruiting class with the Buffaloes was ranked 35th in the nation according to On3. Coach Sanders brought in 5* Cormani McClain from Lakeland, Florida along with three 4* recruits, Dylan Edwards, Omarion Miller, and Adam Hopkins from Kansas, Louisiana, and Georgia. Interesting that all of these recruits came through on-campus visits and not through Deion Sanders using the school’s plane to go visit them.

Given the magnitude of the ‘Coach Prime Effect’ and how there was a 24/7/365 media circus revolving around every single thing Deion Sanders did for months, many believed the Colorado Buffaloes would improve upon their 35th ranked class in 2023.

The 2024 class has dropped 31 spots to 66th in the nation. And that’s still with some top recruits that include 5* Jordan Seaton from IMG Academy in Bradenton about 30 minutes from my house. He also pulled in two 4* recruits, Kam Mikell and Dre’lon Miller from Georgia and Texas, respectively. Just like in 2023, these recruits came through on-campus visits and not through in-home visits by Deion Sanders.

How did Deion Sanders get recruited by FSU?

It’s worth noting that Deion Sanders has talked in the past about how Bobby Bowden was the greatest college football coach of all-time.

It was Coach Bowden who recruited Deion Sanders. Neon Deion was at FSU from 1985-1989 and famously was a multi-sport athlete who won the Jim Thorpe Award, appeared in ‘The Seminole Rap’, and went on to be drafted 5th overall in the 1989 NFL Draft after winning the Heisman Award in 1988.

Coach Sanders was recruited by Bobby Bowden who came to visit Deion at North Fort Myers High School to see him in person, speak with him, and show that as a recruit he was valuable enough for the best coach in the country to come and visit. One has to wonder if some of the nation’s top recruits need the mutual respect of seeing a coach show up at their school or homes to see them play to know that they matter to that coach.