The greatest hire in the history of college football hasn’t won a FBS football game. He hasn’t coached at the FBS level in his life. And he could be in way over his head. But he’s still the greatest hire ever.
Why is Deion Sanders the best ever already? Because the Colorado move to the Big 12 is because of him. The national media attention is because of him. The interest in Colorado from the portal to high school recruiting is because of him. Because a 1-11 football program stuck as the bottom feeder in a dying Pac-12 suddenly became not only attractive but SOUGHT AFTER by a viable Power Five (soon to be Power Four) conference because of Deion Sanders. That makes him invaluable.
There have been coaches who have built programs like Bobby Bowden and Frank Beamer. There are coaches that made colleges absolute superpowers like Tom Osborne and Barry Switzer, and there have been coaches who saved blue blood programs from mediocrity like Nick Saban. But none of them have done what Deion Sanders has done before winning a game. He’s literally saving Colorado from being left out of a conference realignment game of musical chairs.
Yes I know, Colorado would be attractive in some way regardless. But are we sure they’d land on their feet if the Pac-12 folded? Oregon, Washington, Cal, and Stanford are great fits for the Big Ten. And Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are attractive programs to the Big 12 for their home state (Arizona) and recent winning (Utah). And, of course, if the Big 12 went on the Wildcats, Sun Devils, and Utes, it would make sense to add Colorado to make it an even four and shore things up geographically. But the Buffs have suddenly become the No. 1 target of the Big 12 and not a throw-in. And why? Deion Sanders. Of course, Denver is a nice market and a good addition, but without the attention Deion has been getting, would they care as much about a 1-11 program landing two-star recruits and getting blown out by everyone? Nope.
In one fell swoop, Colorado went from a program no one cares about to having their spring game on ESPN and being the talk of all of college football. And that’s because of Deion. They invested $30 million in Deion, and they will now likely reap $400 million or so over his five-year deal. Even if he goes 6-18 over two years and bolts, he’s the best thing to ever happen to Colorado football. And arguably the best hire in college football history.
More Sports News
