Lane Kiffin names Deion Sanders 'GOAT' of transfer portal era

On Tuesday morning, On3 posed a question on X — Who is the “GOAT” of the NCAA transfer portal era thus far? Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss, and Oregon‘s Dan Lanning were presented as options. Those three have likely been the most active in the portal in the past few seasons, continually being linked to and landing top players.

Kiffin has been dubbed the Portal King by some out there, especially for the class Ole Miss brought in this offseason. But he decided to choose Sanders as the “GOAT” of the portal era. Colorado has seen massive turnover over the last two years, with both imports and exports filtering through the program.

While Kiffin and Lanning have brought in some big-name players, Sanders has centered his entire team-building philosophy through the portal.

Coach Prime!!!! @CUBuffsFootball https://t.co/PYbnlCHRoA

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) July 9, 2024

According to On3’s 2024 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings, Colorado finished with the No. 2 overall class this offseason. Sanders saw 41 players join the Buffaloes while another 44 left, totaling an Index Score of 67, 13 more than Kiffin and Ole Miss.

Louisville was the only team higher than Colorado, being at 70.

Last year’s portal class will play just as big of a factor during the 2024 season. Shedeur Sanders is still the starting quarterback while Travis Hunter plans to once again be a two-way player.

Colorado was 1-11 and arguably the worst Power Five program not too long ago. No matter your opinion of Deion Sanders, he has certainly found a way to bring better talent to Boulder.

EA Sports College Football 25 to feature Shedeur Sanders celebration

Ahead of Colorado‘s Week 2 win over Nebraska in the 2023 campaign, Shedeur Sanders captured the nation’s attention when he flexed his custom Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15500 watch. The movement became synonymous with Sanders and spread across the country.

Evidently, the celebration has now transcended the physical realm. On Monday, a still image of a list of celebrations featured in the highly-anticipated “EA Sports College Football 25” game surfaced on X. A celebration titled, “TD: Salute or Show The Ice (Colorado Only),” was included in the list, seemingly alluding to Sanders’ celebration.

Sanders won’t have to wait long to break out the celebration again. Colorado will kick off the 2024 season with a showdown against North Dakota State on Aug. 29. Expectations are high for Sanders, who ESPN projected to be the No. 2 overall pick in its latest 2025 NFL mock draft.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report