‘Prime’ candidate: Deion Sanders confirms Colorado has offered him head coaching job
>
Is Colorado ready for Prime Time?
The better question might be, is Coach Prime ready for Boulder?
Jackson State head football coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders has confirmed he has been offered the opportunity to take over a Colorado program that won just one game in 2022.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, the 55-year-old Sanders said the offer from Colorado isn’t the only thing he’s received after leading the Tigers to an 11-0 regular season in 2022 . decided not to disclose further details.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell all my cases, but they’re not the only ones,” Sanders said.
Known as ‘Prime Time’ during his playing career, the magnetic Sanders prefers ‘Coach Prime’ these days. He said the offer to coach the Buffaloes is not a distraction to his team, which includes his sons Shedeur, a quarterback, and Shilo, a safety.
Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders furiously watches his players as they leave the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Southern University in Jackson
“For someone else who hasn’t been that guy, it’s intoxicating. I’ve been prime for a long time, dawg,” Sanders said, laughing. Attention is nothing new to me. Like, come on. I’m not bragging — that’s a wonderful word, don’t you think? I just came up with that — but this isn’t new to me. Being in the spotlight is not new to me.”
Whoever takes over in Boulder has a job to do. The Buffs went 1-8 in the Pac-12 and ended their dismal season with a 63-21 loss to No. 12 Utah at Folsom Field on Saturday.
Before the season, Colorado lost several starters through the transfer portal, an area Sanders could certainly bolster if he accepted the job from the Buffalos.
Hired by Jackson State in September 2020 after coaching his sons at a Texas high school, Sanders called the match “a match made in heaven.
” He quickly lifted the school in Mississippi’s capital city to SWAC champion in one calendar year.
The Tigers followed up a 4-3 finish in a pandemic-slowed spring season with an 11-2 result last fall, a notable jump led by Sanders’ son Shedeur Sanders at quarterback. They lost to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl.
Jackson State coach Deion Sanders catches the eye of his team during the Southern Heritage Classic NCAA college football game against Tennessee State in September
Jackson State’s achievements have been significant beyond clinching its first conference title since 2007. A program that has produced Hall of Famers such as Walter Payton, Lem Barney, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile has regained relevance among historically black colleges and universities , and Sanders was determined to keep it that way.
Sanders has also scored on the recruiting path, bringing five-star defensive back Travis Hunter and four-star receiver Kevin Coleman for this year’s undefeated squad. Sanders told The Associated Press in an October podcast that both players chose JSU because he and his staff will prepare them for careers in the NFL.
Still, Sanders has noted that schools like Jackson State remain inherently at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting.
“So now it becomes an option,” Sanders said of top recruits choosing HBCUs.
“But it’s not really a balanced option because of the amenities, because of the housing. Because of all the aesthetics at HBCUs. We are short of money and are overlooked. So it’s not the same.’
JSU Runs Back Syveon Wiikerson runs through the arms of defenders during the Jackson State Tigers and Campbell Fighting Camels NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
Sanders’ success in raising the profile of the championship subdivision program—not to mention drawing attention to Black College Football and the challenges JSU and other programs face in field programs—led to speculation about Power 5 schools who pursued him for coaching vacancies.
Even before Sanders took the job at Jackson State, he met with Power 5 school officials about their coaching vacancies and impressed with his preparation.
Sanders was an All-American at Florida State before going on to have a stellar five-team NFL career, including the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He won a Super Bowl each with the Niners and Cowboys.
The 55-year-old — or whoever the new coach may be — would step into a Colorado program far removed from its glory days under Hall of Fame coach Bill McCartney, who led CU to a national championship after the 1990 season.
The Buffaloes have had just one all-winning season since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.