Fans
hold up
signs
encouraging
Jackson
State
head
football
coach
Deion
Sanders
to take
the head
football
coach
opening
at
Colorado
in the
first
half of
an NCAA
college
basketball
game as
Colorado
hosts
Arizona
State,
Thursday,
Dec. 1,
2022, in
Boulder,
Colo.
(AP
Photo/David
Zalubowski) |
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Jackson
State
quarterback
Shedeur
Sanders
(2) is
pressured
by
Southern
defensive
back
Glenn
Brown
(22)
during
the
second
half of
the
Southwestern
Athletic
Conference
championship
NCAA
college
football
game
Saturday,
Dec. 3,
2022, in
Jackson,
Miss.
Jackson
State
won
43-24.
(AP
Photo/Rogelio
V.
Solis) |
|
Colorado
hires
Deion
Sanders
to turn
around
football
program
By
PAT
GRAHAM
apnews.com
BOULDER,
Colo. -
Deion
Sanders
is
taking
over as
head
coach at
Colorado,
bringing
his
charisma
and
larger-than-life
persona
to a
beleaguered
Pac-12
program
that’s
plunged
to the
bottom
of
college
football.
The
deal was
announced
Saturday
night by
CU
athletic
director
Rick
George.
The
Pro
Football
Hall of
Famer
has been
at
Jackson
State, a
historically
Black
college
that
plays in
the
NCAA’s
second
tier of
Division
I, since
2020.
Sanders
has
guided
the
Tigers
to
consecutive
Southwestern
Athletic
Conference
titles.
The
Tigers
beat
Southern
in the
SWAC
championship
game
Saturday
in
Jackson,
Mississippi,
and a
few
hours
later
Colorado
announced
he was
coming
to
Boulder.
Sanders
told his
team
after
the game
he had
accepted
another
job, but
intended
to coach
Jackson
State
(12-0)
in the
Celebration
Bowl for
historically
Black
colleges
on Dec.
17 in
Atlanta
against
Mid-Eastern
Athletic
Conference
champion
North
Carolina
Central.
“In
coaching
you
either
get
elevated
or you
get
terminated,”
Sanders
told his
team.
“There
ain’t no
graveyard
for
coaches
where
they die
at the
place.
They
either
going to
run you
off or
you
going to
walk
off.”
Sanders
talked
about
the
dearth
of Black
head
coaches
at the
highest
levels
of
college
football
and
trying
to be a
catalyst
for
change.
“It’s
not
about a
bag,”
Sanders
said.
“It’s
about an
opportunity.”
The
Tigers
went
27-5 in
the
Sanders
era and
he was
named
SWAC
coach of
the year
the last
two
seasons.
Known as
“Prime
Time”
during
his
high-stepping,
play-making
NFL
career,
the
55-year-old
Sanders
prefers
“Coach
Prime”
these
days.
Colorado
will
prove a
challenge
for the
magnetic
Sanders,
who
inherits
a
program
coming
off a
1-11
season.
But he
brings
instant
name
recognition
and a
track
record
of being
able to
recruit
top-level
talent.
“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,”
George
said in
a
statement.
“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.”
The
Buffaloes
have
turned
in just
one
full-length
winning
season
since
joining
the
Pac-12
in 2011.
They
dismissed
Karl
Dorrell
in
October
and
interim
coach
Mike
Sanford
finished
out the
season
that
culminated
with a
63-21
blowout
loss to
No. 12
Utah at
home.
Colorado
is a
long way
from its
glory
days
under
Hall of
Fame
coach
Bill
McCartney,
who led
the
Buffaloes
to a
national
championship
following
the 1990
season.
While
the
program
is
trying
to build
up its
name,
image
and
likeness
portfolio,
establishing
the
Buffs4Life
Foundation
to help
out
student-athletes,
Colorado
also has
seen
several
players
announce
their
intention
in
recent
days of
entering
the
transfer
portal.
Sanders
figures
to bring
a few
players
along
with him
—
possibly
even his
son,
quarterback
Shedeur
Sanders,
a
6-foot-2
sophomore
at
Jackson
State
who’s
thrown
36 TD
passes
this
season
and just
six
interceptions.
Deion
Sanders
was an
All-American
at
Florida
State
before a
standout
NFL
career
with
five
teams,
including
the San
Francisco
49ers
and
Dallas
Cowboys,
where he
won a
Super
Bowl
with
each. He
also
played
nine MLB
seasons
and
reached
the
World
Series
with the
Atlanta
Braves
in 1992.
Over
the
years,
Sanders
was an
analyst
and a
star of
reality
TV shows
and
commercials,
including
Aflac
spots
with
Alabama
coach
Nick
Saban.
Jackson
State
hired
Sanders
in
September
2020
after he
coached
his sons
at a
fledgling
Texas
high
school
that was
fraught
with
issues.
Moving
to
Jackson
State,
Sanders
called
the fit
“a match
made in
heaven,”
and
quickly
lifted
the
school
in
Mississippi’s
capital.
The
success
of
Jackson
State
was
significant
as it
made a
program
that has
produced
Hall of
Famers
such as
Walter
Payton,
Lem
Barney,
Jackie
Slater
and
Robert
Brazile
relevant
again
among
HBCUs,
and
Sanders
was
determined
to keep
it that
way.
The
arrival
of
Sanders
raised
Jackson
State’s
visibility.
They
were on
the
cover of
Sports
Illustrated
in July
— a
feature
on how
Sanders
rebuilt
the
program
— and
saw
ESPN’s
“College
GameDay”
pay a
visit to
Jackson
State in
October.
Sanders
also
appeared
on “60
Minutes”
in a
profile
story.
Jackson
State
athletic
director
Ashley
Robinson
said in
a
statement
Sanders
“challenged
norms
and
transformed
mindsets
of what
was
perceived
to be
possible
to
create
new
visions
for
success
while
inspiring
the
community
and
creating
a
spotlight
on the
HBCU
sports
and
culture.”
Sanders
told the
team he
was
recommending
to
Robinson
and the
Jackson
State
administration
that
receivers
coach
T.C.
Taylor
be the
next
head
coach.
Sanders
has
scored
big on
the
recruiting
trail,
landing
five-star
defensive
back
Travis
Hunter
and
four-star
receiver
Kevin
Coleman
for this
year’s
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.
“Deion
Sanders’
stature
transcends
sports,
and his
hiring
elevates
not only
the
football
program
but the
university
as a
whole,”
CU
Boulder
Chancellor
Philip
DiStefano
said.
“This is
an
exciting
new
chapter
in the
long,
storied
history
of
Colorado
football
and I
look
forward
to
standing
shoulder-to-shoulder
with our
students,
supporters
and fans
to cheer
on
‘Coach
Prime’
and our
student-athletes
next
fall.”
___
AP
College
Football
Writer
Ralph D.
Russo,
AP
Sports
Writer
Gary B.
Graves
and AP
Freelance
Writer
Tanner
Marlar
contributed
to this
report.
___
AP
college
football:
https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
and
https://twitter.com/ap_top25.
Sign up
for the
AP’s
college
football
newsletter:
https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
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