The problem is, CU gets railed in the media and on twitter the entire recruiting season and they become a non-factor on signing day....to the point where recruits don't see CU as a legitimate program. Think of all the publicity guys like Rhule, Cristobal and Drinkwitz got on signing day to help build their program.
The publicity Rhule got from signing Raiola and doing all those interviews was priceless. Signing day was a day for CFB writers and fans to take more potshots at Deion and expose the fact that he's not expecting to be there in 2025.
Deion can act like this is all part of his plan but I don't believe it. Deion was a brilliant marketer as a player. Still is. Not sure why he's letting this message get away from him. The last month has been a catastrophe for the image of the CU program. WAY more people (and players) now view Prime's CU as not a legitimate program. That's a problem for Deion because everything he's doing is built on people's image and perception of his program. And it's taken a beating over the last 6 weeks.