Growing up in Georgia, Colton Hood played a variety of sports and a variety of positions, looking up to one of the most well-rounded athletes in history: Deion Sanders.
Now Hood will get a chance to play for Sanders, the second-year head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Earlier this week, Hood verbally committed to transferring to CU after one season at Auburn.
“I’m extremely excited. Coach Prime was my idol growing up,” he said. “I’ve read his book, I’ve listened to, like, almost every documentary, all those type things. So I’m really excited to learn from him.”
Hood and his younger brother, Brandon, grew up dreaming of playing together, ideally at Auburn. The Tigers, however, didn’t have room in their backfield for Brandon, a class of 2024 running back recruit from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in Georgia.
They found a good fit in Boulder, though. Brandon also committed to CU last week.
“Auburn was always my dream school,” Colton said. “I got to go there. I played in a couple of games. So that was a good dream of mine but I think I’m on to the next dream now, the next goal, which is playing with my brother at Colorado and playing under Coach Prime.”
Coming out of Eagle’s Landing in 2023, Colton was a four-star cornerback prospect. Listed at 5-foot-11, 188 pounds, he played in four games last season at Auburn, posting three tackles in 44 snaps. He will have four years to play at CU and is eager to make a bigger impact than he did last year.
“I loved Auburn,” he said. “It was my dream school. (Cornerbacks coach Wesley McGriff) really helped me in terms of, like, bettering my IQ, learning the game, and things of that nature.”
Hood couldn’t pass up the opportunity at CU, though. Primarily an offensive player (receiver and quarterback) growing up, he hopes to get a chance to play both sides of the ball at CU.
“I know I’m a really good receiver and I can play both sides,” he said. “Colorado, I just feel like going there, I would get that opportunity.”
Sanders played receiver and cornerback and has allowed current CU star Travis Hunter to shine at both spots, too. He told Hood the opportunity could be there for him, as well – under one condition.
“He said, ‘I know you can play,’” Hood said. “He was like, ‘You’ve got to dominate at corner first.’ I respect that wholeheartedly. I understand.”
With that, he comes to CU focused on corner. In a way, he’s just starting to unlock his potential at that spot.
A multi-sport athlete growing up – he was an all-state center fielder and ran track at ECLA – Hood never focused on one sport until last fall when he got to Auburn. He felt he blossomed.
“Watching old videos of myself when I first got to Auburn and now, I’ve seen the growth is very exponential,” he said. “And I feel like I can get so much better.”
He’s also fairly new at corner.
“I was an offensive player my whole life growing up going into my junior year (of high school),” he said. “My junior year, that’s when I started playing defense a lot and my recruitment took off.”
Now a more polished football player and corner, Hood is looking forward to not only reuniting with his brother, but in joining a competition that includes Hunter and veterans Preston Hodge and DJ McKinney.
“I’ve always been a competitive person,” he said. “I have three older others, you know, and going against them. … And like we used to work out with (NFL standouts) Patrick Peterson, Jalen Ramsey, those caliber of players.
“I feel like just going against that my whole life really just built that dog in me, that competitive spirit. … I love to compete.”
