Cathedral’s O’Neil passing on Colorado due to ‘instability’
Though his senior year of high school football, Danny O’Neil had no plans to decommit from Colorado.
When O’Neil committed to new coach Deion Sanders in March following a visit, he described the Boulder campus and football program as one that “checked every box.” But eight months later, that is no longer the case for the one of the state’s top quarterbacks.
On Monday, O’Neil said he was reopening his recruitment from the Buffaloes. Colorado started fast in Sanders’ first season, but closed with a six-game losing streak that dropped the team to 4-8 and sitting home during bowl season.
A big reason for O’Neil’s commitment to Colorado was a connection with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sean Lewis. During the season, Lewis was stripped of the play-calling duties by Sanders and analyst Pat Shurmur was moved into a co-coordinator role, including calling the offensive plays.
After Colorado’s season-closing 2317 loss to Utah on Saturday, Sanders hinted to “a few changes” coming to the coaching staff during the offseason. Tight ends coach Tim Brewster announced his resignation Sunday.
“I’ll just say that I don’t know much of it is public knowledge, but there are some things going on behind the scenes with the possibility of coaching changes and instability across the board,” O’Neil said Monday in an interview with IndyStar. “I don’t want to go into (a program) and lose a head coach or a coordinator.”
O’Neil said he never had second thoughts about Colorado through the season. The 6-1, 190-pound O’Neil, rated as a three-star prospect, completed 61.6% of his passes as a senior for 2,068 yards and 31 touchdowns with 10 interceptions and rushed for 722 yards and eight TDs.
“For the longest time, Colorado checked all the boxes,” he said. “They had a stable coaching staff and everything about it is a great school, a great business program I wanted to get into and great people. The last few weeks I’d been hearing some things and do a little investigating on my own I’ve been told a few things and decided I should open up my recruitment.”
Another top quarterback recruit, 2025 prospect Antwann Hill Jr., announced Sunday he was pulling his commitment from Colorado.
Illinois and Kentucky were at least two of the schools that were high on O’Neil’s list prior to his commitment. Louisville, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Syracuse, West Virginia and Wake Forest were also among his offers.
The recruiting cycle will move quickly as the transfer portal opens. The early signing period for high school seniors begins Dec. 21. Brownsburg receiver Corey Smith, another top in-state recruit, announced over the weekend he was pulling his commitment from Minnesota.
O’Neil said he still plans to sign in the early period and will enroll in January. He has three weekends to make visits before signing day.
“There’s a few schools from before and a few new schools that have reached out,” he said. “Nothing is concrete yet. I left those relationships pretty well and didn’t burn any bridges. It’s been busy (on the phone) today. There have been some schools that are more local and some schools that are farther away than Colorado reaching out — some schools down south and out west.”