Mind of Mike: Prime Doesn't Actually Recruit

Now I can unpack it, but I’ll have to do it in pieces because there is so much. Deion Sanders, or Coach Prime as he prefers to be called, has always been about himself. He’s always been narcissistic and egocentric, and it was cool when he was a flashy college player or NFL superstar. But oddly, after a humbling 4-8 season at Colorado that makes everyone wonder if he’s way over his head, he’s taken his ego to the next level.

A report came out that Deion hasn’t done any home visits on the recruiting trail since he’s been hired at Colorado. This wasn’t shocking to me; I knew this. I’ve talked to former staffers of his and people in the know who told me this was happening from the beginning. It’s the most uncommon recruiting practice ever. Joe Paterno stopped doing home visits when he was in his late 70s, which is understandable in a way. He was old and feeble. Should JoePa still have been the head coach? Nope. Did that end well? Obviously not. JoePa was a figurehead at the end and a bad one at that. Deion Sanders has been a figurehead since day one at Colorado but his fans and the cult that follows him won’t admit it. And here we are.

The first point of Deion’s diatribe I’ll address in this article is the most important one to me. Deion is full of excuses and I’ll get to those excuses in future articles. But he’s a lazy recruiter. Lazy might even be too kind a term. How about non-existent? The reason his high school recruiting class was so underwhelming in year one and so small in year two is because it’s too much effort. High school recruiting is a four-year deal, sometimes longer. It takes constant work and communication as a prospect develops, and you end up meeting that player and his family numerous times. Heck, when I was recruiting kids to attend our Five Star Challenge back in the day, I met kids and parents in person often. And I spoke to them on the phone constantly. And that’s for some dumb event. If you want a player and his family to entrust you with their college experience, it takes effort. Deion doesn’t want to do that.

And so the excuses come out. Money, fame, his poor upbringing, his strategy and more fame. Deion is too famous to recruit. He’s too frugal to recruit. He’s too smart to waste time visiting houses. He doesn’t want to embarrass poor families and visit their poor houses. He would be in too much demand from other schools. On and on. It’s all code for one thing I’ve known and been told since he arrived in Boulder. He doesn’t want to put in the work. He’s a lazy recruiter.

If you can see this video and honestly defend his actions as being smart and frugal, then you’re a cult member. You’re no longer a fan. Deion is trying to use fame to lure kids to Colorado without the effort, and he’s trying to half-ass Power Four college coaching, and it’s clear as day to anyone who doesn’t make this an issue of fandom or race.

Colorado could go 7-5 or even 8-4 next season in a much easier Big 12, which would be absolutely remarkable with his recruiting efforts. They could also go 4-8 again and blow a few close games with some blowouts in the mix.

At the end of the day, Deion is good for college football. He is polarizing and makes things fun. But he’s also completely self-absorbed, and each time we hear him talk, it seems to get worse.