Deion Sanders is headed to Colorado.
The Jackson State head coach and former NFL star is preparing to “walk out to take” a vacant seat with the Buffaloes, according to a report by ESPN.
Jackson State is set to compete in the SWAC title match on Saturday, and Sanders has been working to recruit potential field and support staff to join Colorado last week, reports say. The report also said Sanders’ efforts included calling out “prominent players on the NCAA transfer portal.”
On Monday, Sanders confirmed reports that he had been offered the job of head coach in Colorado.
Sanders did not disclose any contacts outside of Colorado during a conference call with Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game attendees.
The university has not commented on a candidate to replace Karl Dorell, who was fired in October.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame led Jackson State University, a historically black college playing in the second tier of NCAA Division I football, to an 11-0 record this season. The Tigers will host Southern at his SWAC championship on Saturday.
Known as “prime time” during his playing career, Sanders prefers “coaching prime” these days. He said the offer to coach the Buffaloes was not a distraction.
“For someone else who’s not that kind of guy, it’s intoxicating. I’ve been ‘prime’ for a long time.” Light is nothing new to me.”
Whoever takes over Boulder will be deprived of his job. The Buffs went 1-8 in the Pac-12 and capped off a dark season with a crushing 63-21 loss to No. 12 Utah at Folsom Field on Saturday.
Prior to the season, Colorado lost several starters through the transfer portal, an area that Sanders could certainly strengthen if he accepted the Buffaloes job.
Sanders, who was hired by Jackson State University in September 2020 after coaching his sons in high school in Texas, called the fit “a match made in heaven.” He took the school in the Mississippi capital to his SWAC champion in his first calendar year.
After finishing 4-3 in a pandemic-delayed spring season, the Tigers went 11-2 last fall, an impressive leap forward led by quarterback and Sanders’ son, Shedur Sanders. rice field. They lost to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl.
Jackson State’s accomplishments were more significant than winning their first conference title since 2007. Hall of Fame inductees like Walter Payton, Rem Barney, Jackie Slater, and Robert Brazil were once again relevant among HBCUs, and Sanders was determined to keep it. .
Sanders has also scored in recruiting, adding five-star defensive back Travis Hunter and four-star receiver Kevin Coleman to this year’s undefeated team. Sanders told the Associated Press in October on a podcast that the reason both players chose JSU was to prepare him and his staff for careers in the NFL.
Still, Sanders points out, schools like Jackson State University are inherently at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring.
Sanders, 55 (or whoever it is), stepped into a Colorado program far from his glory days under Hall of Fame coach Bill McCartney, who led CU to a national championship following the 1990 season. you will have to step in.
The Buffaloes have only won one full season since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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