Deion Sanders has emphasized the transfer portal over traditional high school recruiting since taking over as coach at Colorado in late 2022. However, his biggest recruiting addition ahead of the 2024 season is Jordan Seaton, an IMG Academy offensive tackle and consensus five-star prospect.
Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders faced constant pressure in 2023, and Seaton will be tasked with keeping the Buffaloes signal-caller upright this fall.
Seaton, who had scholarship offers from myriad Power 4 schools, was introduced to the Colorado media Wednesday, and he spoke glowingly about Sanders’s recruiting approach.
Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports
Sanders got right into coaching the coveted tackle, offering three areas for improvement rather than simply saying whatever he believed Seaton wanted to hear. That approach really impressed the IMG star.
“He told me I need to bend my hips a little bit more, so I’m like, ‘I can work with that,’” Seaton said. “Right now you’re trying to elevate me, and I’m not even here. You’re invested in me and just want me to win, and I haven’t even came to your school yet. So that kind of stood out to me the most. I don’t really like the yes men in your ear.”
"Every other visit I went on they told me how good I was... Coach Prime told me three things he wants me to work on." pic.twitter.com/Q48XR497gj
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) March 20, 2024
As a whole, Seaton was impressed with the unified vision he sees at Colorado, where he says “everybody just clicks.”
“I haven’t really seen that on a lot of my visits,” Seaton said. “I’ve kinda been everywhere in the nation, from Oregon to all the way back in Maryland where I’m from. So I kinda seen it all, seen what every university brought, and right here, this is the best fit for me. And then Coach Prime, he’s Coach Prime. Who wouldn’t want to play for him?”
The comments come days after USA Today revealed just how different Sanders’s recruiting approach is from many of his peers. Records obtained by the publication show Sanders hasn’t made a single off-campus recruiting visit since taking over at Colorado, a fact the school confirmed. Despite having a $200,000 private air travel budget for recruiting, Sanders is confident he can build the program without having to venture too far from Boulder.
He specifically cited IMG, Seaton’s alma mater in Bradenton, Fla., in his explanation of the approach on Wednesday.
“My approach is totally different than many coaches,” Sanders said, via The Athletic. “I’m a businessman as well, so I try to save our university money every dern chance I get. For me to go, let’s say I go to Florida and I’m visiting IMG, you don’t think those coaches are going to be a little upset if I don’t come by the school down the street? You don’t think it’s going to be pandemonium, or I’m gonna get naysayed if I don’t go another 45 minutes? Then if I go to that one, why didn’t I come to that school? Now the coach is mad and he’s not gonna let the kid come because I chose that school over that school. Other coaches, they can do that, but I can’t.
“I have never heard one guy say I chose this college because this coach came by my crib. Have you?” Sanders continued. “I can’t do the things other coaches can do. You know why? I’m Coach Prime. And I didn’t stutter when I said it.”
Results are inconclusive so far after a 4–8 record in 2023 (a three-win improvement from a year before), but Sanders has brought more hype to the program than it’s had in many years. Landing Seaton shows that talent may very well follow the hype to Boulder.
