Deion Sanders Calls Out Rival Schools for Negative Recruiting Tactics Against Colorado

Coach Prime’s success has a negative side when it comes to recruiting.

Colorado football has lost four consecutive games and six of its past seven. But Deion Sanders’s first year in Boulder has been a success for how much he’s raised the profile of the program. 

Yet, creating such a sensation also has a negative side. There’s an inherent assumption among fans and media that Sanders won’t be with the Buffaloes for very long. And opposing coaches are using that perception against him in recruiting. 

On his weekly radio show (per CBS Sports), Sanders claimed that some rivals have told recruits that he will soon move on from Boulder. This appears to be a particular concern after four-star receiver prospect Winston Watkins Jr. decommitted from Colorado. 

“I don’t talk about any other coaches or teams or staffs. I don’t believe in that,” Sanders told host Mark Johnson. “I am not going to put you down so I can stand up. I’ve never been that type of player or person in my life. 

“But all these other schools are telling these young men and their families I am not going to be here,” he added. “They think that we’re going to be so successful that I am going to leave. So they understand what we possess and the potential we possess. But that’s not true.”

Not even a week has passed since Texas A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher and Sanders is one of several coaches that have been linked to the opening, along with Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Dabo Swinney of Clemson, and the Lions’ Dan Campbell. 

As Sanders said, implying that he could quickly move on to another job indicates the success he’s already had in elevating Colorado. But that can also be used against him, which he’s now encountering in what is often a dirty game of college football recruiting.