Deion Sanders explains lack of in-home visits, ‘blowing money’

When most college coaches are looking to get top talent that means a flight across the country and a sit down in the living room of their prospect with their family—these are known as in-home visits. While Deion Sanders has touted that he’s in the rare position of knowing what it’s like to be the kid, the parent and the coach in that room—Coach Prime hasn’t actually been in that situation while coaching the Colorado Buffaloes.

USA Today reported last week that Sanders has made no off-campus contacts with recruiting prospects since he was hired there in early December 2022, according to documents they obtained. Despite the school budgeting for this travel—Sanders confirmed this oddity to his recruiting style on Wednesday.

Coach Prime explained because of his celebrity he can’t operate like other coaches. Say a Jim Harbaugh, who had 145 off-campus contacts with recruits or their family members over the same time period or even, Steve Sarkisian who had 128 off-campus recruiting visits. Sanders’ status plus the fact that Colorado isn’t-necessarily focused on recruiting but more on the transfer portal, were Prime’s primary thoughts, oh saving the school a few bucks too.

“There was an article that came out that said I don’t go and visits. Okay. My approach it’s totally different than many coaches approach. I’m a businessman as well, so I tried to save our university money, every darn chance I get so for me to go to—let’s just say I’m going to Florida and I’m visiting, whatever school IMG—you don’t think those coaches gonna be a little upset if I don’t come back to school down the street? You don’t think it’s going to be pandemonium or I’m going to get naysaying if I don’t go another 45 minutes? Then if I go to that why didn’t come to that school? Now the coach is mad so he’s not gonna let the kid come. Because he’s mad because I chose to go to that school over that school. See other coaches. They could do that, but I can’t. I can’t and I really pretty much done a personal survey. I really truly in all my heart believe that parents don’t want me in their house. They want to come see my house. They want to see how I love, how I get down. They want to see what I got going on and what God has done in my life. I know when I was in college, I did not want Bobby Bowden in my house. Because I knew after seven o’clock it was going to be rats and roaches on parade doing their thing, so that was just straight up honestly I didn’t. So that never transpired that never happened for me. And we target mostly guys that’s in the portal, when do you make visits to portal guys homes? Anybody do that? Do they do it? Anybody, have you guys heard of it? I think when a guy is in his 20s and he has one two more shots. He don’t give a darn about the picture. He don’t give a darn about the parade and you want to take him home. He wants to know, how are you going to use me? How can you help me get to the league? And what am I gonna get paid? That’s it, that’s the world we live in now. I have never heard one guy say I chose this college because this coach came by my crib. It’s different now. The parents, I love them and I want to show them Boulder. I want them to see this and how beautiful it is and why I’m so eager and how much I love this city and this state and this team. I want them to see that because guess what? That’s where the kid is coming. The kid is coming here. Going there is just a showcase for me, that’s just blowing money, it don’t make sense. And I can’t do the things other coaches can do. You know why? I’m Coach Prime and I didn’t stutter when I said it.

To Sanders point, Colorado’s recruiting has only improved in his two seasons. The Buffaloes have had the 21st and 22nd-best overall classes in the country, when accounting for transfers as well, according to 247 Sports. The two years before Sanders, Colorado’s classes were 58th and 64th. And in Prime’s time the Buffaloes have shifted mainly to transfer athletes, getting seven from high school and 25 from the portal in this last class. As Prime pointed out, nobody goes on in-home visits to transfer players. Even narrowing in on high schoolers, Colorado’s getting of top corner recruit Cormani McClain and top offensive line prospect Jordan Seaton in the last two classes are the third and fourth-best recruits to come to Boulder in 25 years of tracking.

On top of Prime’s approach paying off for landing talent, it seems saving the school money is having a positive impact elsewhere. The school said the men’s basketball program has used the private flights stipulated for Sanders’ visits for their own recruiting trips. Both the men’s and women’s programs are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years and Sanders’ daughter, Shelomi is a reserve on that team.

Through only one year of playing games, the Buffaloes are 4-8 with Sanders at the helm and yet that’s still a big improvement from their single win a season before Prime took over.