Coach Prime had jokes for people who criticized his transfer portal recruiting

When Coach Prime landed in Boulder in Dec. 2022, he made it clear what his plans were with the roster that just went 1-11 in one of the worst seasons in modern college football. He told those players that he was bringing his own luggage via the transfer portal, and that the ones he wasn’t keeping around should hop in that portal.

While his method of roster reconstruction has heavily judged and seen as harsher, it worked. The Buffs went from being the laughing stock of the country to competing for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game as they finished the regular season with a 9-3 record, tied for first place in the league.

Prime said at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday that his methodology of going after new players was 40% graduate transfers, 40% other transfers and 20% high school players, meaning that 80% of the guys he goes after to add to his squad come from that transfer portal. That’s why he coined the phrase ‘I ain’t hard to find’ as he began to build the Buffaloes back up to college football relevance.

He also had some jokes for the people who have criticized him in the past who are now praising other coaches, like Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, who is a long time friend of Sanders, that have been dipping into the portal for some top players recently.

Deion Sanders and Colorado have been hyper-aggressive in the transfer portal.

I asked for his thoughts on what #TexasTech and his good friend Joey McGuire have done in the portal. His response was perfect: pic.twitter.com/ZTughDlaB4

— Jarrett Ramirez (@JarrettDRamirez) July 9, 2025

“Once upon a time, you guys were talking junk about me going in that portal. Now, when everyone go in the portal it’s okay. It’s cool when they do it, but it’s a problem when I do it. Ain’t that a rap song?” Prime joked.

Prime also made sure to emphasize that he and McGuire are good friends, and he had no problem with the man leading the Red Raiders. He was just sharing his qualms with the people who have criticized him for hitting the portal hard in his three years in Boulder.

This season, the Buffs have 33 transfers coming to town via the portal. That number was 43 a season ago and a whopping 52 in Prime’s first season in Boulder. Those numbers show that it took a lot to build the foundation for how he wanted to run the Buffs, but now that he has the foundation set, he doesn’t have to go as hard in the portal as he did in recent years.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech has 21 incoming transfers this season after bringing in 16 in 2024 and seven in 2023. A very different way of recruiting, but part of it could be due to the deep, deep pockets that the Texas Tech boosters have and the cash they’ve been donating to McGuire and the rest of the program.

Prime and the rest of his staff have had to look for some elite talents in the portal this year in an effort to replace Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. He found his quarterback in Kaidon Salter, who is poised to be successful if he can beat out true freshman Julian Lewis for the starting spot in Week 1. After a great campaign in 2024, the black and gold have high expectations heading into the third season of the Prime era.

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