On Tuesday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders smiled when asked about managing the transfer portal and the complaints from other college football coaches regarding it.

Take, for instance, Penn State coach James Franklin, whose backup quarterback entered the portal and left the team before their playoff match against SMU. Franklin expressed his frustration with the timing of the portal being open from December 9-28.

“We have issues in college football,” Franklin commented on Monday.

Sanders, however, has a different perspective. He believes that player departures via the transfer portal should come as “no surprise” to most.

“Navigating the portal isn’t hard,” Sanders stated on Tuesday. “I think some coaches are misled about what it really is. I understood its implications from the very start, didn’t you?”

Sanders made this remark despite experiencing some player departures before facing BYU in the Alamo Bowl on December 28, including starting linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green. He addressed various topics, including the Heisman Trophy win of Travis Hunter during a press conference in Boulder on Tuesday.

`We’re in the Ark now’

Sanders’ emergence as a college coach coincided with the NCAA’s relaxed transfer rules in 2021, enabling athletes to switch teams more freely. As a newcomer to college recruitment, he viewed this as a chance to attract talent differently from the conventional method of recruiting high school players.

In his first season at Colorado, he set a record by bringing in a significant number of scholarship transfer players. He further revamped his team with 39 new scholarship transfer players from other four-year colleges in 2024. This season, his team boasts a 9-3 record and includes Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, a transfer from Jackson State.

On Tuesday, he compared his transition strategy to the Biblical tale of Noah preparing for a great flood.

“I was prepared to look like a fool for a bit,” Sanders shared. “I was listening to you (the media). I watched it unfold, and we got it. But Noah appeared foolish when he kept insisting it was going to rain, right? The rain is here for everyone now, right?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Sanders declared. “We’re in the Ark now.”

He pointed out that he has been employing this strategy for years. Even when coaching youth football in Texas, Sanders humorously noted how “we had to recruit everyone from the portal for kids aged 5 to 12. That meant from other teams.”

Colorado might also be targeting a transfer quarterback, as offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur mentioned on Tuesday. Although the Buffaloes recently secured Julian Lewis as their future QB, Shurmur indicated there could still be space for a transfer with remaining eligibility.

On Travis Hunter’s Heisman Trophy win

Travis Hunter, Colorado’s versatile superstar, returned from New York with the Heisman Trophy, marking the school’s second win of the prestigious award since 1994. When asked on Tuesday when he realized Hunter had the potential to win the Heisman, Sanders answered confidently.

“The moment I saw him practice on his first day at Jackson State. That’s when,” Sanders recalled. “He went out there at receiver, showcased his skills, then switched to defensive back and excelled. I knew at that moment he was exceptional.”

“You recognize when something extraordinary is happening,” he added.

Hunter transferred to Colorado last year, following Sanders from Jackson State to Boulder. Sanders took an unconventional route with Hunter, similar to his approach with the transfer portal, by allowing him to participate in both offensive and defensive roles without frequent substitutions.

“Most college coaches won’t permit this… because they can’t comprehend it,” Sanders noted.

However, Sanders had experienced a similar situation as a player, albeit in a different capacity, so he didn’t limit Hunter’s potential.

“I let him be completely true to himself,” Sanders remarked.