Although Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders is eager to go on vacation and spend some time at his Texas home, the work never stops.

CU wrapped up spring practice on Saturday with the annual Black & Gold game at Folsom Field, but plenty is to be done to shape the roster before the Aug. 29 opener against Georgia Tech in Boulder.

That point was driven home just moments after the spring game, when freshman offensive lineman Jay Gardenhire put his name into the transfer portal, less than five months after enrolling at CU.

Not long after that, it was announced that former Illinois State cornerback Teon Parks has decided to transfer to the Buffs. On Sunday, former Auburn safety Terrance Love committed to the Buffs.“I want to target every area (of the roster),” Sanders said Thursday. “You don’t just sit back and think you got it. I mean, I think the kicking game is set. … Everything else we need to improve.”

After Love’s commitment, the Buffs had 98 players slated for the 2025 roster, including 74 on scholarship and 24 walk-ons.

New NCAA rules allow for up to 105 scholarship spots, up from 85 in previous years. The new rule also caps the roster at 105. Several schools, however, including CU, will keep scholarships closer to 85 and allow for roughly 20 walk-ons. The SEC, in fact, will maintain an 85-scholarship limit for its teams this year.

During Sanders’ first two seasons at CU, he didn’t even have 80 players on scholarship and he’s unlikely to carry as many as 85 this year.

“I always save several (open), because there ain’t 85 kids that can flat out play,” he said Saturday after the spring game. “So you always gotta be smart, and kind of save some just in case you get a windfall of a kid that decommits somewhere and wants to commit to us and wants to jump in the portal and come to us. You gotta always save some just in case. And also, I’ve saved some to reward those that deserve to be rewarded.”

On Saturday, he gave one scholarship spot to senior walk-on safety Ben Finneseth. But, as always, Sanders and his staff will be active in the transfer portal.

“I think we know the portal really good,” Sanders said. “We’ve been doing this for quite some time. It didn’t just start when we got here (to Colorado). We started at Jackson State. Started, really, in youth when we came and took nothing and turned it into something.

“The portal is going to be good to us. I think we have several players coming this weekend, which I’m excited to see, along with what we already have in house.”

After Saturday’s spring game, Sanders gave a breakdown of what the Buffs will target in the portal.

“Let’s start with one tremendous defensive tackle,” he said. “Another linebacker or two; two safeties; probably three corners; one receiver that’s a grown man, that’s a dog; a couple running backs; tight end; maybe a guard, tackle, maybe two centers.”

That’s a total of 16 spots listed by Sanders, which would put the Buffs at 89, but there is likely to be more players leaving the current roster for the portal before it closes on Friday. Sanders hinted that the secondary could see some turnover from the current roster.

“I don’t feel like (opposing teams) are going to be able to successfully run the ball against us, so we gotta be more stout on the back end,” he said. “You’re probably going to see that portal jumping on the back end in the next few days.”

Parks is one of the three corner additions and Love one of the two safeties. Sanders said most of what he listed is already on board — just not publicly.

“I think we got half of that already,” he said. “You guys just ain’t heard about it.”

Running back is an immediate need because the Buffs only have four on scholarship after last year’s top rusher, Isaiah Augustave, jumped in the portal. On Sunday, he committed to Virginia.

Virginia apparently tried to lure safety Carter Stoutmire, as well, according to Sanders in a video by Well Off Media, but Stoutmire isn’t going anywhere. Depth at safety is a priority, though, because the Buffs were down to just five on scholarship before Love’s commitment.

Offensive line is a constant work in progress, it seems, even more so after sophomore center Cash Cleveland went to the portal this past week. CU had four transfer linemen on campus this spring and recently got a commitment from former Memphis standout Xavier Hill.

At receiver, the Buffs are talented, but young. The recent addition of Campbell transfer Sincere Brown helps, but, as Sanders said, another experienced receiver would bolster that room.

Overall, it’ll be a busy few weeks for Sanders — even if he is in Texas — and his staff.

“We got some tremendous guys identified that’s in the portal that we felt like were going to be in the portal,” he said.