BOULDER — As Deion Sanders and the Colorado coaching staff rebuilt the Buffaloes roster this offseason, they went far and wide looking for talent.

Even with all the players that came from Jackson State and from Sanders’ home state of Florida, no one has had a longer journey to Boulder than tight end Seydou Traore.

The Arkansas State transfer is originally from London, England and while he’s now catching passes from Shedeur Sanders, Traore remembers his days as a promising youth soccer goalkeeper — and he’s putting those skills to the use every day on the football field.

“I feel like the hand-eye coordination translated well,” said Traore, who grew up rooting for his local club Crystal Palace in the Premier League. “I was quite an athlete coming out, but raw. I feel like that pass-catching ability came naturally to me.”

Traore said he grew up watching the show NFL This Week on BBC and that was how he was initially introduced for the game. He went on to join a local football team in London before coming to the U.S. in the hopes of playing at the collegiate level. He spent just one season at Clearwater Academy International in Florida, his first year playing 11-on-11 football, before spending the last two seasons at Arkansas State.

Traore, who goes by the nickname Ziko, had a breakout season last fall, earning honorable mention All-American honors and first team All-Sun Belt after his 62 catches for 752 yards was tops in the conference. The 752 yards was third among tight ends in the entire country and his talent is already showing itself in spring practices at CU.

“Ziko is a very gifted, talented player,” Buffs tight ends coach Tim Brewster said.

But there’s still a long way to go for Traore, who’s only played football for a relatively short amount of time.

“He doesn’t understand right now how to work and how to push on every snap,” Brewster said. “He can flash and really do some good things and then he can take a step back and take his foot off the gas pedal. We need more out of him. I need him to be a better performer, giving more effort every single day for him to do what he wants to do and for us to do what we gotta do.”

That coaching is why Traore, one of top tight ends available in the transfer portal this offseason, chose to come to Boulder.

“The coaching experience that (Brewster) has had and the players that he’s coached and what he’s been able to produce out of them, (it’s) unmatchable,” Traore said. “Really, I’ve just gotta listen and take in his advice and try and put it onto the field.

“I feel like it speaks for itself what Coach Brew has been able to do with previous tight ends — Antonio Gates, Kyle Pitts. If you start reading out the names, it’s unbeatable.”

Brewster isn’t looking for just an elite, pass-catching tight end. Traore’s ability in that regard speaks for itself, but Brewster is looking for tight ends who remind him of the 49ers’ George Kittle, a weapon in the passing game that is also physical at the line of scrimmage and a key run blocker.

“We’ve gotta have a true, three down tight end,” Brewster said. “Only (Traore) can determine whether or not he’s willing to do that.”