The long and winding road that was the courtship of Deion Sanders came to an end officially Saturday night as he accepted the Colorado head coach position.
“There were a number of highly qualified and impressive candidates interested in becoming the next head football coach at Colorado, but none of them had the pedigree, the knowledge and the ability to connect with student-athletes like Deion Sanders,” athletic director Rick George said. “Not only will Coach Prime energize our fanbase, I’m confident that he will lead our program back to national prominence while leading a team of high quality and high character.”
Sanders took to his Instagram account following Jackson State’s 43-24 win over Southern in the SWAC Championship Game to explain his decision.
“I have chosen to accept a job elsewhere next year,” Sanders said in his Instagram post, “I’m going to finish what we started. We’re going to dominate. I’m going to be here until that end and that conclusion, and then we’re going to move on.
What does this mean for everyone and what is Prime Time’s goal?
Jackson State and HBCU Football
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The biggest blow with Sanders’ departure from Jackson State is equally shared between Jackson State and HBCU football overall.
Sanders brought significant attention to the SWAC specifically, and HBCU football more broadly with his presence. The Hall of Famer consistently pushed for opportunities to highlight the league’s talent and display the culture so many took pride in.
Earlier this year, Sanders held a Pro Day featuring athletes from four other schools in the state of Mississippi providing a platform in front of 22 NFL teams and the Canadian Football League, which was by all accounts, a great success.
Sanders’ name recognition and ability to sell Jackson State helped the school to become the first HBCU to have its spring football game televised live nationally on ESPNU.
I was and still am a strong advocate for Sanders staying at Jackson State, because his impact on the entire HBCU community and Jackson State was immeasurable.
Sanders’ ambition has led him to move on and we will examine further reasons, but Jackson State is going to be gutted by the transfer portal.
Travis Hunter, who was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, didn’t pick Jackson State for Jackson State, he picked it to play for Deion Sanders.
He won’t be alone in that regard, and the departures will be immense.
Colorado and the Pac-12
Since the abrupt resignation of Gary Barnett in 2005, Colorado has been a revolving door for coaches. No coach has been able to post back-to-back winning seasons since the Barnett era. The 2016 Pac-12 Championship Game appearance seems almost more of an aberration at this point, but it is that fuel that has them believing this program can be more than what it is.
“Deion Sanders’ stature transcends sports, and his hiring elevates not only the football program but the university as a whole,” said CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano.
Colorado is in desperate need of a revival, and DiStefano’s assessment of program elevation for the Sanders hire is 100% accurate.
Whether you are a football player or a student applying for school, Sanders’ name recognition and willingness to come to Boulder — a place where he has no discernable ties — speaks volumes for the school and community at large. He will almost assuredly attract top talent not just in football, but the university across the board as other athletes and students might push Colorado up to be associated with him.
The Pac-12 as a conference is also a big winner here. Coach Prime’s brand has considerable weight and draws eyeballs to the conference. He doesn’t fully make up for the departures of Southern Cal and UCLA to the Big Ten, but his name and presence eat into that deficit.
If Sanders is successful and gets Colorado back to where they were in the Bill McCartney days, the league benefits as Utah, Oregon, and Washington can have a fourth team with a brand share the load.
Recruiting and the Transfer Portal
Sanders can flat-out recruit. No one is questioning that. It is well documented by his acquisition of Hunter, who was the No. 1 recruit last year, as well as Kevin Coleman who was a four-star wide receiver who got looks from Southern Cal, Oregon, Miami, and Florida State.
What made Colorado a juggernaut back in the day it was able to lure the Darian Hagans and Eric Bieniemys out of California and get them to Colorado.
Sanders is seen to this generation as a true football icon. You turn on First Take and you hear Stephen A. Smith have Sanders as one of the three greatest football players. ESPN also has no problem rolling “Prime Time” highlights and his name is front and center.
This has translated well on the recruiting trail and will continue to do so for Colorado.
Sanders didn’t waste time and has already extended a Class of 2026 dual-threat quarterback DJ Bordeaux an offer yesterday.
https://twitter.com/__GoDJ__/status/1599095893831340032
We also might be in store for another title bout for the Portal King crown, as Sanders might bring in a massive haul like how Lincoln Riley brought one into Southern Cal last year when he made the jump from Oklahoma.
It seems Sanders has let all recruiting targets and anyone interested in joining him to set their sights on Boulder.
It will be interesting to see who Sanders assembles for his staff to aid him on this front. Sanders’ natural territory is in the southeast, but he will need to develop pipelines into California, Arizona, and Texas, as well as keep the elite talent at home for Colorado to be successful.
Can He Coach?
One of the main criticisms people have for Sanders is the simple question, can he coach?
On the surface, a 27-5 record and two conference championships would be a leading indicator for many that he can coach.
But it is crucial to note that he had a massive talent advantage at Jackson State. His ability to recruit from both the high school level and the portal as mentioned above meant that other schools couldn’t even approach JSU’s talent. In his first season, where most would say the talent level was even for all, Sanders was 4-3. To be fair, that was also the 2020 covid season where no one had any idea what was going to change on a daily basis.
The question also becomes can he coach up two and three stars to be consistent contributors and starters? How does he handle kids who may have been four or five-stars and play at a two-star level at Colorado?
All these questions are fair.
My counter to these questions is that while Sanders has a big name and brand that attracts talent, it isn’t a guarantee every time to be successful.
Tennessee State of the FCS Ohio Valley Conference hired Eddie George to be their head coach.
George, who had over 10,000 rushing yards in the NFL and won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State, hasn’t yet had a winning season yet at Tennessee State.
Sanders has developed some of the crucial skills necessary to become a leader of men. Some point to Sanders’ faith as his inspiration, as the same was true for Sanders college coach Bobby Bowden, who was true to his faith and translated it to the gridiron that impacted thousands of men who came through his program.
Will Sanders get schooled by Kyle Whittingham or Lincoln Riley? More than likely yes, especially in his first season. That’s exactly what happened at Jackson State.
To his credit, Sanders figured it out. And if we look at Dan Lanning at Oregon, his situation isn’t all too dissimilar. He had several head-scratching moments this season against Georgia, Washington, and Oregon State that is going to learn from. Sanders will figure those same things out.
Lastly, the counter to the talent advantage, name me a coach that doesn’t win big without talent.
That is the name of the game, to assemble the most talented team to compete.
To me, it is a lazy and convenient excuse skeptics have on Sanders because Lincoln Riley isn’t successful in his turnaround this year without his talent upgrades or advantages.
We really need to give Sanders three seasons to properly gauge if his coaching skills are good enough at a Power 5 level.
What is Coach Prime’s End Game?
I am obviously not Deion Sanders, so this section is my own opinion on what the finish line — or at least the end goal as a coach — looks like for him.
Much like with Jackson State, and I know Colorado fans are in complete euphoria, Joel Klatt, a notable Colorado alum, was unabashedly gushing about the news during the Big Ten Championship telecast. But we all know that the end goal is for Sanders is not in Boulder.
If Sanders proves to be successful in getting Colorado back to national prominence, he may only have one more opportunity for another big move.
Sanders will be 56 next season. In three years, we will be able to tell if Colorado is getting closer to national prominence, it will get a lot easier with Southern Cal and UCLA in the Big Ten in 2024.
If Colorado is back winning in big ways in three to five seasons, at that point, will be about 60 years old. The natural question will then be what is available and what is his next step?
I am not saying the NFL is impossible, but it is a very different type of 24-hour/7 day-a-week grind than college football. Building a successful college program and a successful NFL program is like comparing chess to checkers.
The NFL is very much a chess match. Between the salary cap and a limited amount of draft picks to update your roster, it is very glacial in nature to build it out at times. Just look at how long it’s taken Buffalo under GM Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott to take a completely failing team like the Bills and get them to a place where they are a legitimate contender. That took six years.
However, in college, with the turnover in classes that graduate, transfer, or go to the NFL, you are constantly recruiting to improve your team.
Unless the ideal NFL job opens you won’t see Sanders there.
Florida State is the next logical spot to look. However, the question to ask is not how successful Mike Norvell is, but does it even really matter?
I don’t feel Florida State will be impulsive enough to fire Norvell if he keeps the Seminoles at a 9-10 win level. I know the aspirations are higher, but after this period of turbulence for their program, they will covet stability.
I don’t know if there is a specific program I can identify that Sanders sets his eyes on. If Norvell stumbles and Sanders has Colorado performing at a “Rocky Mountain High,” maybe the attraction of going home is there.
I also feel Sanders may hit a ceiling at Colorado because of the conference he’s in, where a national championship isn’t obtainable. So he may look at a job in the Big Ten or SEC where the resources are there to get one.
Winning a national championship at Colorado now might be more impressive than the one they won with a fifth down. That shows the challenge ahead Sanders is facing. There is no shame in failing in Boulder. But if Sanders does fail, the question is who really can succeed for Colorado?
In the end, only Sanders knows what his true end game is. But no matter what he decides to do, there will be a ton of hype, promise, and fireworks wherever he goes.
