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As a former baseball player, Deion Sanders knows all about swinging and missing.
Sanders was a .263 hitter in the Major Leagues; not great, but good enough to play at the highest level for nine years in a sport where the best hitters still fail 70% of the time.
That type of success rate won’t cut it when shopping for players in college football’s transfer portal, however.
There are numerous reasons why the Colorado football team is limping to Saturday’s finish line and a trip to Kansas State for the season finale (10 a.m. MT, FS1), but the lack of success in the transfer portal might top the list.
“The strategy a year ago was the same strategy it was (for 2024),” said Sanders, the third-year head coach of the Buffaloes. “And you hit on your portal guys (in 2024); you hit on your freshman guys. This year, you hit on your freshmen, to me, some of them, and you missed on your portal. So, that’s why we’re sitting where we sit.”
At 3-8 (1-7 Big 12), CU is riding a four-game losing streak and goes into Saturday as a 17.5-point underdog. Lose to the Wildcats (5-6, 4-4) and it’ll be the Buffs’ worst record under Sanders, who is 16-20 at CU.
Injuries piled up this year. There were questionable coaching decisions at times, especially in some close losses early in the year. But, ultimately, CU didn’t get the type of production it expected from the 32 players it signed as transfers last offseason.
“It’s not like you didn’t have a strategic plan,” Sanders said. “You had a strategic plan. You missed. Sometimes that happens. And I’m going to take responsibility.”
When CU went 9-4 in 2024, it was led by a plethora of big-time transfers, including Sanders’ sons, Shedeur (quarterback) and Shilo (safety), and Heisman Trophy-winning cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter.
Others, such as receivers LaJohntay Wester, Jimmy Horn Jr. and Will Sheppard; defensive linemen Chidozie Nwankwo and Shane Cokes; defensive ends BJ Green, Arden Walker and Keaten Wade; linebackers LaVonta Bentley and Nikhai Hill-Green; and defensive backs Preston Hodge, DJ McKinney and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig all played significant roles, including starring roles.
Like he did last year, Sanders built this year’s roster mainly through the portal. The success rate, however, wasn’t nearly the same.
Headlining the transfer group was quarterback Kaidon Salter, a fifth-year senior from Liberty who was the Conference USA most valuable player in 2023.
Salter has had some good moments, playing exceptionally well in wins against Wyoming and Iowa State. But he hasn’t been a great fit for the Buffs’ offense overall. Salter was benched for a game early in the year, regained his starting job and then was benched after a miserable first half in a 52-17 loss to Arizona on Nov. 1. After sitting the past two games, Salter will start the finale, though.
CU loaded up on defensive line transfers, including Gavriel Lightfoot (Fresno State) and Tavian Coleman (Texas State), who have played a combined five games (all by Coleman) because of injury. Another defensive lineman, Jehiem Oatis (Alabama), came in with a lot of hype but has started just three games and hasn’t produced as expected.
Linebackers Martavius French (UTSA) and Reginald Hughes (Jacksonville State) came to CU after all-conference seasons at their previous schools. French was benched midseason and Hughes has been in a backup role at times, too.
Other transfers, such as running backs Simeon Price (Coastal Carolina) and DeKalon Taylor (Incarnate Word) and receiver Hykeem Williams (Florida State) played well early in the year but have missed most of the season with injuries.
CU did hit on several transfers, though.
Receivers Joseph Williams (Tulsa) and Sincere Brown (Campbell) have had big moments. Tight end Zach Atkins (Northwest Missouri State) has played well. Guards Xavier Hill (Memphis) and Zy Crisler (Illinois), as well as center Zarian McGill (Louisiana Tech) have been stalwarts on an improved offensive line. And Larry Johnson III (Tennessee) has started most of the year at right tackle.
Defensively, Tawfiq Byard (South Florida) has been a leader, while John Slaughter (Tennessee) has played well of late. Kicker Buck Buchanan (Louisiana Tech) and punter Damon Greaves (Kansas) have had good seasons, as well.
The success rate just wasn’t high enough for CU to win as it had hoped and expected.
Sanders said he enjoys the roster building process “immensely,” but admitted that being away from the team all summer while he battled bladder cancer hampered the process.
“I’m not making excuses by any means, but I missed a little bit of that,” he said.
Feeling healthier, Sanders is looking forward to rebuilding the Buffs this offseason, especially after the portal window opens Jan. 2.
“I really look forward to it and meeting with those guys, interviewing those guys, making sure that their countenance, their desire, their want, their fire matches with what we have here or can enhance what we have here,” he said. “You’ve just got to make sure that person is the right guy and they really want this to want this and not want this for a check.”
Those checks will matter, though, as teams around the country buy players. Teams with the most money will get the best players. Others, such as CU, have to be smart with their money and find some diamonds in the rough.
“You may not accomplish everything you need to, because it takes a lot of money,” Sanders said. “So you may not be able to do that, but you’re going to do what you’re capable of doing to heal some woes that you have, and a lot of that is up front (on the offensive and defensive lines). A lot of that is on the defensive side of the ball.”
It will take a lot of work (and money) to fix the Buffs’ roster for 2026, but Sanders is confident he and his staff can get it right this year, because they’ve done it before.
“I don’t break glass in case of emergency,” he said. “I know how to get it right. I’ll get it right. … We know what direction we want to go and we’re going to get there. We just didn’t get it right last year.
“I can’t wait to sit down, I can’t wait until this darn portal opens. I can’t wait to see what we’re going to come up with by the conclusion of signing day.”
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Brian Howell
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