Deion Sanders makes controversial statement on recruiting players from single-parent homes

Deion Sanders has made his mark on recruiting, notably flipping former top-ranked recruit Travis Hunter from Florida State to Jackson State last year. He opened up about his approach to recruiting this week, and he had some controversial comments in the process.

Sanders joined The Rich Eisen Show last week and talked about what he looks for in players — depending on the position. While talent is a big part of the evaluation, Sanders said their upbringing and performance in school are also factors.

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“We have different attributes,” Sanders said. “Smart, tough, fast, disciplined with character. Now, quarterbacks are different. We want mother, father. Dual-parent. We want their kid to be 3.5 [GPA] and up, because he has to be smart. Not bad decisions off the field, at all. Because he has to be a leader of men.

“It’s so many different attributes in what we look for when we see a quarterback. You would love a coach’s son. Somewhere, that the coach has coached him. … That’s what, really, we look for in quarterbacks.

He also discussed the different things he looks for in linemen, both on offense and on defense.

“Different positions are different,” Sanders said. “Like, o-linemen, I look for dual-parent homes, a strong father that they adhere to. A smart kid, at least 3.3 [GPA] and above. … Tough, physical, offensive linemen.

“Defensive linemen is totally opposite. Single mama, trying to get it, he’s on free lunch. I’m talking about just trying to make it. He’s trying to rescue mama. Like mama barely made the flight. And I want him to just go get it. It’s a whole different attribute that you look for in different positions. And we have that stuff just chronicled. We know what we want, and we go get it.”

Colorado brought in the nation’s No. 33-ranked recruiting class this year, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. The crown jewel of the class is five-star cornerback Cormani McClain, who flipped his commitment from Miami to Colorado after Sanders’ hiring. McClain is the nation’s No. 13-ranked recruit, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.