BOULDER, Colo. — Less than two months removed from a disaster 1-11 season, the Colorado Buffaloes just pulled in the No. 3 recruiting class in the Pac-12 Conference thanks to their decision to hire NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders away from Jackson State to be their next head coach.
While the results on the field remain to be seen, Locked on Pac-12 host Spencer McLaughlin believes the addition of Sanders is monumental not just for the Buffs but for the Pac-12 as well.
"Him being able to acquire the level of talent that is now attracted to Boulder is great for the Buffs," McLaughlin explained. "But it's also great for the conference...You can look at where the Pac-12 is compared to the other conferences and realize the league is in a perfectly healthy and competitive spot when compared to the ACC and the Big-12."
Sanders quickly proved his worth as a recruiter, landing five-star defensive back Cormani McClain as well as four-star running back Dylan Edwards and a pair of four-star receivers in Omarion Miller and Taje McCoy.
The departure of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in 2024 has created a lot of negativity around the Pac-12, but McLaughlin argues that the conference's health is overblown - and Sanders will only help things improve going forward.
"There isn't actually a lot of evidence to support the notion that the Pac-12, or Pac-10 without the LA schools, is in a worse spot going forward than the ACC or the Big-12," McLaughlin continued. "And by the way, Deion Sanders does help with that in a rather significant way."
Sanders needs to prove he can win at the Power-5 level, otherwise his recruiting prowess will drop over time, but for now his addition has helped bolster a team, and a conference, that really needed it.