Three-Point Stance: Deion Sanders, Colorado recruiting, new coaches
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney wonders if Deion Sanders at Colorado could actually work, he looks at five big-time prospects who Sanders should target heading into signing day and gives his thoughts on the final two Power Five coach openings that have been filled at Louisville and Stanford in today’s Three-Point Stance:
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RELATED: Colorado lands four-star RB Dylan Edwards
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CAN SANDERS REALLY WIN AT COLORADO?
Can Deion Sanders really pull this off?
That’s the question I’ve asked myself most over the last week or so as he has definitely provided a spark and an incredible amount of excitement around what was a moribund program, instantly winning some big recruiting battles and disassembling a recruiting class that had talented players but maybe not at the level to win big in the Pac-12.
Sanders has already made bold moves - exactly what we expected. He’s brought in some elite coaches with big-time recruiting connections whether it’s Tim Brewster or Corey Phillips from LSU or Nick Williams from Texas A&M among others.
He’s already flipped one of the best all-purpose backs in the 2023 class in speedy four-star Dylan Edwards from Notre Dame. Landing three-star JUCO defensive back Anthony Robinson was a major recruiting win that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Three-star receiver Asaad Waseem was another big victory as that provides more entry into the Florida recruiting market.
We’re all waiting to see if Colorado could get even more serious with Malachi Coleman and Kadyn Proctor as both have shown decent amounts of interest in playing for Sanders, Coleman a little more than Proctor at this point. Colorado coaches are supposed to visit four-star linebacker Arion Carter this week as Alabama has been the favorite but the Buffs will be involved there.
We still wait on former five-star Travis Hunter’s decision along with former four-star Kevin Coleman and whether they’ll be heading to Boulder as well.
High school recruiting is off to a good start but needs to keep getting better. This isn’t Jackson State where Sanders can bring in three or four significant transfers and three or four elite high school players and go undefeated. A roster needs to be stocked because that’s how bad the Buffaloes were before Sanders got there.
Colorado went 1-11 this past season. That’s both good and bad for Sanders because he’ll get the credit for any improvement on that record but he’s starting from basically the ground floor. The Buffs didn’t just lose every game, they were all pretty much embarrassing blowouts all season, the only win coming against Cal in overtime.
Colorado’s leading rusher this past season had 393 yards and two touchdowns. The quarterback threw seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. The leading receiver caught 23 passes for 359 yards - all season.
The Buffaloes have not had a winning season since 2016. Sixteen of their last 17 seasons have been losing ones. It’s been ugly there.
Sanders went 27-5 at Jackson State. Incredibly impressive. But this isn’t Jackson State or playing in the SWAC. Still, Prime has had a great start in Boulder putting together a fantastic staff and making waves in recruiting already. These last few weeks before signing day could provide a real spark heading into the offseason.
Either way, Colorado is back in the news and that cannot be a bad thing.
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FIVE PROSPECTS PRIME SHOULD TARGET
Kadyn Proctor: When I asked the five-star Iowa offensive line commit how much interest he had in a new offer from Colorado he said “not too much” but maybe that changes if he gets on campus and Sanders really puts the recruiting touch to him. Proctor recently visited Oregon and seemed to show a lot of interest in the Ducks along with his mother but there’s no more buzzy program than the Buffs right now. It might intrigue him more as signing day gets closer.
Dante Moore: This might be a major stretch and Colorado might have to go to the transfer portal for an impactful quarterback to almost definitely back up Shedeur Sanders (since Prime said at his introductory press conference that his son would be the starter) but it’s worth taking a shot. Moore was at UCLA this past weekend and could be looking at other options ever since former Oregon OC Kenny Dillingham left for Arizona State. Still, Moore’s calculation that maybe flipping to play for Chip Kelly is more of a safe bet than looking at Boulder.
Malachi Coleman: There seems to be significant legs to this one and Colorado should be considered one of the favorites in his recruitment now. Many other schools are involved and new Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is trying to get the Lincoln (Neb.) East standout back in the loop but the Buffaloes should definitely be watched.
Omarion Miller: The four-star receiver has now been committed to LSU and Nebraska but backed off his pledge to the Huskers when it was made clear Mickey Joseph wouldn’t get the full-time job. Arkansas, Auburn, LSU and Oklahoma have made the biggest impact for Miller now but he looks like a prime candidate for Prime to go after. He would immediately get playing time in Boulder and that kind of opportunity might be hard to pass up.
Arion Carter: The four-star linebacker from Smyrna, Tenn., has seen his recruitment explode in recent months and it looks like Alabama is way out in front for his commitment. Meeting with coach Nick Saban and other coaches recently could have sealed the deal. But Colorado has reached out and should be visiting with Carter this week. Let’s see if it influences him enough to change things and actually pick the Buffaloes.
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THOUGHTS ON NEW COACHES
Some of the final pieces to the coaching carousel are in place now as Louisville has brought back Jeff Brohm as its next coach and Stanford hired Troy Taylor from Sacramento State.
Brohm is a phenomenal hire at the right time as he has so many connections to the program and could save a big-time recruiting class that might’ve fallen apart after Scott Satterfield ditched the Cardinals for Cincinnati. On Saturday, Brohm was in Southern California to see the Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco state title game as he tries to hang on to those elite players.
Brohm had his best years at Purdue over the last couple and it really could be a seamless fit to Louisville, probably even an upgrade from Satterfield.
Taylor is a really interesting pick. He’s a California guy, a fourth-round NFL Draft pick, he’s coached at the high school and college level in the state and has numerous connections that he can utilize to give Stanford a spark. That’s what the Cardinal need because they had become incredibly bland the last few seasons under former coach David Shaw, who wanted to run the ball but didn’t recruit elite offensive linemen to do it in the final years. Things got stale.
Although he’s not as big a name as some other coaches hired across the Power Five, Taylor could be one of the best. I remember seeing his offenses at Folsom, Calif., in the early 2010s and his teams went faster than anybody and scored a ton of points. That type of pace could be coming to Stanford and his recent stop at Sacramento State could prove it’s true.
The Hornets were undefeated heading into the FCS quarterfinal on Saturday and still scored 63 points in a three-point loss to Incarnate Word. If Taylor is going to lose at Stanford, it won’t be because of a lack of scoring.