Couple Interesting Portal Updates

The biggest problem is that there isn’t a good resource to find out how many scholarships a school currently has allocated. 247 tries but they struggle, especially right now when a portal window is just closing so you have to do your own homework. Even if you ignore errors for which class kids should be in on the link: Smedley is in the portal and I don’t think he was ever on scholarship, Bernard isn’t listed with the RB’s, I believe all of the Pututau’s have either exhausted their eligibility or medically retired.,,

So the short answer is that only the Shadow knows and each school has until the start of the season to be under 85.

Well said Champ! Deion is a MAGNET! What he did in 1 year to put Colorado back on the map of relevance from literally being dead and buried with no hope of ever coming back to life…that was mind blowing! He might not have turned in the on-field results everyone looks to in order to call him one of the top coaches in CFB. However, he sucked all of the national attention and spotlight away from the blue bloods and shined it squarely on Boulder throughout most of last year. That attracts top talent, it attracts boosters to invest records amount of money, and it attracts massive fan support that Colorado hasn’t seen since their Rashaan Salaam days.Another year or 2 of attracting top talent to Boulder and Deion could have himself a contender. As successful as Utah has been over the past decade, we still have yet to see a 5* recruit sign on to be a Ute. Definitely some of our best players who ended up being high 4* status qualify as being every bit as good as the 5* kids across the country. But technically speaking, we’re still waiting for the day that a legit 5* kid commits to Utah. Deion’s already checked that box both at the FCS ranks and now at Colorado…that’s incredible! At the end of the day you could be the best coach on the planet but you won’t win anything if you don’t have talented players. Players win games and players win championships. And assuming Deion continues to upgrade Colorado’s roster, their win totals will only go up. Lastly, Deion’s style might not be for everyone and his flashiness might turn a lot of people completely off. But he’s a marketing genius and absolutely knows what he’s doing. He’s explained in interviews (you can find on YouTube) that his style we all see on TV isn’t really who he is. It’s just a persona he’s created for marketing purposes, because he learned early on as a player how he could attract the most eyeballs and attention to his personal brand. He leveraged this attention as a player, coupled with his on-field success, to maximize his own personal earnings from additional endorsement sources. Now he’s taking all of those learnings and applying them to the world of coaching in a unique way we’ve never seen before. I find it fascinating, especially when you see him pull in TV ratings for a game like Colorado vs Colorado St, in a terrible late night TV time slot, that’s on par with a NY6 game…it’s unbelievable.I understand why many might be turned off by Deion. And I also understand why many believe it’s just smoke and mirrors that will soon fizzle out. But he’s never been anything but wildly successful at every step of the way through his career and I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s surrounded himself with talented coaches to get the players what they need to be successful. And he does a great job being a figure head and staying in his lane where he can add the most value to the kids, the program, the boosters, the fans, and the media. He knows what he’s doing and just needs to get the players/roster and Colorado will be another juggernaut out West.

Look at the Spring game numbers from last year, a sellout with no actual scrimmage but more skill players playing 7 on 7.

This year the attendance was way way way down. Could have been the “weather” or it could have been even the fans have become numb to his blathering. He tries to come off as a great mentor/coach, but word on Sports Talk radio in Denver is he’s out for him and his kids. Once his kids “go to the NFL” he’ll likely get out of coaching. It’s a two or three year experiment for him. His kids got bags more money than anybody on the Utah roster last year. Like so much money his kids bought him some very expensive gifts. The Colorado Buffs crazy train is going to derail again soon.

Hunter and Sanders were always going to be drafted. They came draft ready. And how have they improved under Deion? Hunter is still a twig. As gifted as he is, if he can’t stay on the field, he can’t play. And his kid…he holds the ball longer than Fields did. How has he improved?

Look at the NFL. The new offenses with the RPO and quick passes are making DE’s irrelevant. If you get the ball out in 2 secs or attack the DE and leave him in space to make a decision…then he isn’t that great.

How does Sanders take advantage of that?

Sure, Deion makes Colorado money. That’s great. Hell, he may even make you, the player, some money. But the real money is NFL money. And Deion hasn’t put a single kid into the NFL. And outside of Hunter and Sanders, who anyone could have put into the NFL, he doesn’t look like he has anyone else lined up.

I’ll say it again:

If I’m a kid, why the hell would you consider Deion. He won’t help you. He’s shown that. He is there for Deion. He won’t get you to the NFL. He won’t help you improve. Hell, you can argue Hunter and Sanders haven’t improved. He won’t build you up. He won’t take you from a third round pick to a first round talent. He won’t develop you.

And when he wins 2-3 games this next year…he will blame you and kick you off the team.

The only thing Deion can show to Whitt is how to be Deion. And that’s all hype. If Deion wanted to come to Utah and be a hype man, not a coach, not have access to the players, training, facilities, etc, but just run his mouth and hype things up, I’m all in.

But would anything Deion is doing help Utah become a better program?

I don’t see it. Deion helps Deion. That’s it.

That’s not what former players are coming out and saying against him

IT MUST HAVE TAKEN YOU AT LEAST A SECOND TO REPLY, SO YOU DO TAKE AT LEAST A SECOND TO WHAT I REPORT, MAYBE EVEN 2 SECONDS.