Colorado coach Deion Sanders will enter his fourth season in charge of the Buffaloes under immense pressure to overturn last season’s woeful 3-9 record. Once again, Coach Prime opted for a familiar tactic in the NIL and free transfer era by flipping his roster mostly via the transfer portal, bringing in 43 players.
Sanders stole the headlines when he arrived in the FBS and took advantage of the new NIL environment in college sports and immediately flipped the Buffs’ underperforming roster.
Deion Sanders Gives NIL Lessons to Student-Athletes’ Parents
While speaking to the parents of student-athletes in a clip posted on the “Well Off Media” YouTube page on Wednesday, Sanders gave a lesson on how agents have taken advantage of players during the NIL era and detailed how to approach the current environment in college sports.
“First of all, I don’t know how in the world agents in the pros makes at most 4% of an athlete, but in this NIL era, these guys are getting 20%, and you don’t even have a license,” Sanders said. “I’m gonna tell you what else they’re doing, they’re not paying taxes on teh 20%. They’re letting you pay taxes on the 100%
“And you’re only supposed to pay taxes on your 80%. Let’s say you got $100,000, you take home 80, they take home 20. When you’re paying taxes, you’re left with the bill, you’re left with the bag. They’re not taught how to be managing finances, but you guys should have financial literacy, it should be mandatory.”
Sanders has been credited with being the first coach in the FBS to take advantage of the NIL era colliding with the free transfer era to flip his rosters frequently and several prospects opted to commit to Colorado due to the coach’s popularity that boosted their NIL profiles.
Coach Prime’s son, Shedeur Sanders, who starred for him for two seasons in Boulder, held the highest NIL valuation in college sports ($6.5 million) before he departed for the NFL via the 2025 draft.
In addition, two-way star Travis Hunter boosted his brand under the charismatic Sanders and finished his college football career with a NIL valuation of $5.7 million after winning the Heisman Trophy in 2024.
According to ESPN’s Max Olson, more than 6,700 Division I college football players entered the transfer portal in January to seek greener pastures, as the revenue-sharing agreement, combined with massive NIL payments for the top players in the country, has ensured a guaranteed exodus within college sports.
