Portal Problems: Coach Prime's Risky Rebuild

Boulder- Live by the portal. Die by the portal. Last season, Colorado’s first year head coach, Deion Sanders managed to do both.

As the ink was still drying on his 5 year $29 million dollar contract, Sanders, or "Coach Prime" as he's more widely known these days served notice. “I’m coming and when I get here there’s going to be change," he said in a made for TV moment as he addressed his new team for the very first time. He continued. “So I want yall to get ready. Go ahead and jump in the portal and do whatever you gone get done because the more of you that jump in the more room you make."

Before long, there were Buffaloes jumping in. There were Buffaloes jumping out, The Buffaloes were jumping all about.

THE PURGE

From Aug 2022 to May 2023 a total of 71 CU players entered the portal. Far and away the most ever by a team since the portal was introduced in 2018.

Last season, Sanders chose to hand pick his team through the portal, bringing in more than 20 players to fill out his first roster as Colorado’s head coach. The early returns on Coach Prime's gamble paid off in spades as the Buffaloes boat raced TCU, Nebraska and Colorado St. to begin the season 3-0. CU was ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2020. Coach Prime and Colorado were the toast of the college football world. Ticket sales skyrocketed. Season tickets sold out. ESPN became a fixture in Boulder. Sanders, for all of his bravado and self promotion had done more for the program in months than anyone since McCartney in decades.

Then, the wheels fell off. Almost literally,

Colorado would lose eight of its final 9 games to finish 4-8. The low point came in a 46-43 loss to Stanford in which the Buffaloes blew a 28 point halftime lead, losing to a team that went 3-8 last season. CU would lose its next 5 games to close out the regular season on a 6 game skid. The off-season has proved tumultuous with the mass exodus beginning in earnest as soon as the portal opened.

CU LOSES TWO OF ITS BRIGHTEST STARS

Among the defections are 5-star DB Cormani McClain and RB Alton McCaskill Jr. McClain, the nations #1 rated DB was the bell cow of CU's 2023 recruiting class. A projected starter in the secondary, McClain appeared in only 9 games and totaled just 13 tackles.

McCaskill Jr. a Houston transfer also figured heavily into CU's plans as compliment to Travis Hunter in the backfield. McCaskill, rushed for 961 yards and 16 TD's en-route to garnering AAC Newcomer of the Year. McCaskill IV missed most of the season with an injury, finishing with only 14 carries and 59 yards. McCaskill also left the team and re-entered the portal following the 2023 season.

Since their defections, both have had plenty to say about the state of the program under its current leadership.

Through it all, Sanders remains unfazed. "We're good, we're good" he said when asked about the defections recently. Sanders said he trusted his recruiting team and his coaching staff. "That's something every school deals with."

Is this just part of it in todays college football landscape or are their bigger problems in Boulder? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Deion Sanders Has Watched A Mass Exodus Of Buffaloes Head To The Transfer Portal In 2024Photo byBo Woodland (Picsart)