Jay Gardenhire says Colorado's 2025 recruiting class is "locked in"

Colorado’s 2025 recruiting class is aiming to change the narrative when it comes to Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ recruiting strategy. After visiting Boulder with his family on June 11th and 12th, three-star offensive tackle Jay Gardenhire had seen enough to wrap up his recruitment and commit to Coach Prime and Colorado’s coaching staff on June 26th. Although Gardenhire’s visit came before Colorado’s legendary recruiting weekend on June 21st including five-star quarterback Julian Lewis and many others, Gardenhire shared with DNVR how Colorado’s 2025 commits are coming to set the record straight for the future of Coach Prime’s program.

“We have a group chat and we’re in there every day, we’re connected and locked in trying to bring as many talented players as we can to Colorado,” said Gardenhire. “Our thing is greatness and to shock the world is really what we want.”

Gardenhire calls New Jersey home but recently moved to Michigan to play for West Bloomfield High School to wrap up his high school playing career this fall. While Coach Prime has set the foundation for recruiting pipelines in Georgia and Florida, the state of Michigan has provided multiple players and commitments for the Buffs over the last year. Even though Gardenhire will be far from home in Colorado, it was connections that go back to New Jersey and Michigan that made Colorado feel like home for Gardenhire.

“I have one of my friends, Alex Graham who is committed, he’s from Michigan and he’s been a recruiter,” said Gardenhire. “I work out with his dad and his little brother so he was always talking about CU. Then my connection with Coach Pat [Shurmur], he’s a Michigan guy, he coached the Giants and was in Jersey. That was another part of the visit that I liked a lot.”

Once Gardenhire signs on the dotted line to Colorado this upcoming winter, he will join 2024 four-star EDGE Brandon Davis-Swain as the second player to come to Colorado via West Bloomfield High School. When Gardenhire went on his visit to West Bloomfield last winter to check out his new high school, Davis-Swain was the player tour guide for Gardenhire and got the gears turning in his head about joining Coach Prime and the Buffs.

“Brandon and I are cool, every time he comes back he talks about Colorado and how crazy it was,” said Gardenhire. “Then hearing him talk about [CU] and then actually going up there to see it put the picture to the words. It was really cool, he and his dad are extremely enthusiastic about starting the Detroit to Colorado pipeline.”

Coach Prime on the recruits here from Michigan: “I guess you’re raising dawgs. I ain’t hard 2 find.”

— Jake Schwanitz (@JakeDNVR) September 30, 2023

Listed at 6-foot-8 and 350 pounds, Gardenhire boasts college football-ready size and spoke with current Colorado right tackle Kahlil Benson on his visit about the standards under Coach Prime at Colorado.

“I talked to [Kahlil Benson] while I was there and he was talking about where they were last year and what they are right now is completely different and the mindset is completely different from what they were last year,” said Gardenhire. “That was really cool to hear because knowing how the offensive line played last year and trying to see who they got and how they performed in one on one’s. Just their attitude and everything and their mindset of protecting Shedeur, the way they say it is just protect two. DT2.”

Even though Gardenhire won’t be able to block for Shedeur Sanders at Colorado, the expectation for offensive linemen at Colorado is being established this season. Given his size and recruiting pedigree, Gardenhire projects to be the right tackle of the future for Shedeur’s successor and the next quarterback under Coach Prime at CU.

Colorado has been the most talked about team in the entire country this offseason as lies, false accusations and fairy tales have spread like wildfire about Coach Prime’s program. While those on the outside may believe the lies, Gardenhire and the 2025 commits know the truth and are using it as motivation.

“It’s a lot more than how people talk about [CU] on social media that fires us up as commits and us players,” said Gardenhire. “We’re just like, ‘ok, this is who you think we are and this is how you talk about us,’ so we’re just gonna do what we can do to change that in the season. I think the players that are there now and the players coming in are excited to change the culture and see how that affects how the country feels. Really we just want to see how the country feels after this season because we know the outlook on that. It’s gonna be crazy.”

Gardenhire also shared that the CU’s 2025 recruiting class is just getting started.

“There’s a lot more to come to Colorado,” said Gardenhire. “There are some more pieces that are on the way that we, not only as coaches but us as players, are trying to get and trying to make happen.”

Since the conclusion of the 2023 season, Colorado has become one of the hottest teams in the country in terms of transfer portal and high school recruiting despite last year’s 4-8 record. Coach Prime, CU’s coaching staff, Buff Nation and incoming recruits are expecting that momentum to carry over and pick up steam once the 2024 season begins.

“I’m really excited, I’m fired up to see how they do this season and expect that we’ll get a lot of great things from them,” said Gardenhire.