Deion Sanders’ Colorado closed out the 2025 season with a disappointing 3-9 overall record and a 1-8 mark in Big 12 play, but the struggles didn’t stop on the field. Over 30 players from the Buffaloes’ roster entered the transfer portal, including wide receiver Omarion Miller and safety D.J. McKinney.
The transfer portal has seen an increasing number of top-tier talents leave, largely driven by the ongoing influence of NIL opportunities.
Deion Sanders Resurfaces With Hard-Hitting Advice for Transfer Portal Players
Sanders is known for prioritizing the transfer portal over traditional high school recruiting to build Colorado’s roster. Since taking over before the 2023 season, the Buffaloes have added 128 players via the portal.
Coach Prime’s “portal-first” strategy focuses on quickly rebuilding the squad with experienced college players who can make an immediate impact. However, he is critical of how NIL currently influences the portal.
In a resurfaced video, Sanders urged players to focus less on money and more on building a successful football career.
“The first mistake that they make is they want to go chase a bag instead of chase the game,” Sanders said.
“The game got the bag. Don’t chase the bag. The bag ain’t chase the game because that’s gonna sustain you for a moment. This right here is gonna maintain you forever, and they (are) chasing the wrong thing. I’d rather chase a place that’s gonna give me the game, that’s gonna teach me how to be a man, that’s gonna teach me about this money, and that’s gonna hold me accountable and make sure I’m disciplined.
“Not just the bag, because see, that’s gonna run out because first of all, you have no moral compass on how to handle it, and your family sure don’t know how to handle it, so now you are one or two and done, and you ain’t in the environment to get you prepared for the next level, which is the pros. You’re chasing NIL instead of NFL, and that’s not the right thing. I’ve never chased money in my life. I’ve chased greatness, and guess what came with greatness? The money,” he added.
NIL’s influence in college football continues to grow, with SEC and Big Ten programs reportedly spending millions to recruit freshmen. Sanders criticized this disparity in July, saying that big programs have vast resources while Colorado does not. He also suggested implementing an NIL “salary cap” similar to the NFL to promote fair spending across programs.
Meanwhile, Colorado received encouraging portal news this week. San Jose State All-American wide receiver Danny Scudero, who holds a 75.4 rating in the PFSN CFB WR Impact Metric, committed to the Buffaloes on Sunday. They also added Sacramento State running back Damian Henderson and Miami wideout Kamryn Perry the day before.
