Deion Sanders is done playing by the old rules. As the NIL landscape shifts from simple pocket money to a generational wealth game, to keep everything intact, Coach Prime went out and brought the connoisseur of the NIL playbook, Hutton Reed.

The Colorado Buffaloes are trying to build a strong NIL front, prompting Sanders to look for someone who has a lot of expertise on this front. That brought him to Hutton, who played a key role in top NIL agency Package Deal Sports. He joins Colorado’s front office as the assistant director of recruiting. This shows the team is now serious about getting better players, with better deals to offer them.

Reed represented former Colorado player Reginald Hughes. He’d been working with the player since his days at Jackson State, and made it possible for him to transfer to Colorado. Now playing an important role in Colorado’s recruitment, Reed has to bring the kind of players that keep people talking.

After losing more than 45 players in the portal, Deion Sanders’ team needed someone like Reed who could build relationships and bring in players for them. Plus, their 2027 class still needs major depth. The team just had three commits so far in the class. Colorado sits outside the Top 50 in this class, and failed to make a mark with their 2026 class as well. They desperately needed some help with NIL, because it decides the power of a roster today.

Top offensive lineman Jordan Seaton was valued at $1.7 million while he was at Colorado. But after a troubling season and a better offer at LSU, the OL jumped camp. This year, Colorado’s highest-ranked player is edge rusher Domata Peko Jr., the sixth-best prospect in the country. A big part of the reason why he’s at Boulder is his father, former NFL star Domata Peko, who will double up as his coach on the CU football staff. After him, the next best talent is ranked 373rd nationally. Colorado has to catch up.

According to Sanders, there is also a growing disparity in the sport, thanks to NIL.

Deion Sanders complained about NIL inequality

Sanders is among the prominent critics of NIL in college football. It’s tough to compete with teams that have better players and who are also getting paid a good amount to be there. Colorado has no hope lining up against teams that are stacked with blue-chip talent. But the way NIL-endowed schools have been dominating the landscape by raising the bar every season, Sanders did not think it was justified.

“It’s tough, but I don’t think what NIL is presenting is sustainable,” the Buffs head coach said on ESPN’s First Take. “And often time it seems you see the same consistent teams winning and winning because of the finances that some of the boosters and donors can give. [So] that needs to be fixed.”

“We need some kind of commissioner [or] somebody to step up and make sure we’re doing this thing in unison. So that you don’t have certain teams that are able to do well beyond what this team [can do], and you know this team is not going to win because of their lack of finances.”

All nine teams that defeated Colorado last season had players who were better than the average Colorado player. The lack of funds to impress recruits and keep them at Colorado has now become a glaring fact for the program. Deion Sanders has not been too vocal about it, but it is the way of the world in college football right now.

It’s tough to retain players with just the culture and inner workings of the team. Not everyone is bothered about the money they’re making, but we have seen the best players in the sport changing teams because the other one offered them a higher paycheck. Colorado has got to start doing this with Hutton Reed in play.