Coach Prime isn’t worried about the changes to the transfer portal

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has gone to the transfer portal more than almost any other coach over the past three offseasons to go and recruit new talent for the Colorado Buffaloes. Whether it’s in the winter window right after the season or the spring window a few months later, he’s found the players he’s needed to make the Buffs a competent football team once again.

Prime and the Buffs had the highest rated portal class in 2023 (50 transfers in), the second-best class in 2024 (44), and the 24th-best class this year (25), according to On3. The 119 portal recruits he’s brought to Boulder over the past three seasons are the most in the country, and there are no signs of him slowing down in the future.

Big news hit the college football world last week, as the NCAA voted to eliminate the spring transfer window in favor of having just one window open sometime in the winter. Dates for that window have not been established as people try to find the best balance between the start of classes for students in January and the teams who are still playing playoff football at that time.

During his weekly media availability on Tuesday, Prime was asked about his thoughts on the new transfer window and how that would affect his ability to get more talent to come to Boulder.

“We’re gonna go about that business like every other school. It’s the same rules for everyone, right? So we’re gonna get what we want. We always do, and when we don’t get what we want, that means somebody offered more money. That’s it. We’re gonna scout the players, and hopefully we get the type of guys that’s not coming here to play for money,” Prime said.

The spring window has been a cause for some interesting decisions for players, as there have been many instances in which a player enrolls in the winter before they transfer just months later in the spring. Players will play well in their program’s spring game before putting pads on across the country a week later. This has benefitted the Buffs with certain recruits and hurt them with others.

Another aspect of the portal in today’s era of NIL is money, and the Buffs simply don’t have the resources and the donors to keep up with many of the other powerhouses around the country who have unlimited amounts of money. He wants players to come here for reasons outside of money.

“They come in here and to play because they want to play for the Colorado Buffaloes, and they want to play up under this team and how we do things, in the consistency that we’re on television and all that comes with it. So it is what it is,” Prime said.

Coach Prime’s slogan of “I ain’t hard 2 find” backs up how he’s attacked the portal. He doesn’t need to go throw millions of dollars at recruits. If they want to play for CU, Prime is readily available to look into them. The new House Settlement will also somewhat level out the competition (not counting under the table deals to recruits), which is something that matters more to Prime than having multiple windows.

“Man, long as the playing field is level for everyone, I’m good. I have no complaints.”

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