Deion Sanders is reportedly ready to leave Jackson State. After the Tigers host Southern in the SWAC Championship on Dec. 3, “Coach Prime” will leave JSU to take the Colorado head football coaching job, Pete Thamel, ESPN’s senior college football writer, reported.
The report said Sanders and his associates made calls to potential members of his on-field, support staff and a player in the transfer portal this past week preparing for his move to Colorado.
“They’re not doing a great job of hiding this,” said a staff source. “If he backs out of this deal, it would be a huge problem for Colorado.”
The report of Sanders’ move comes 26 months after Jackson State announced him as its new football coach. The pro football Hall of Famer wasn’t hired at his former school of Florida State or other major coaching jobs like Arkansas, so he took the opportunity from Jackson State as a way to also enhance the voices of HBCUs. He’s helped expedite the building of a new on-campus turf field at Jackson State as well as get the athletic department’s push to approve a new football stadium approved. He’s met with state legislators to pass the Name, Image and Likeness bill in Mississippi, and has been on town hall panels advocating for a stop of violence in Jackson. He’s also invited other HBCUs and SWAC schools to various camps and showcases he’s hosted at JSU. He took an average team with a dedicated following and made it a mainstream brand beyond the world of HBCU fans. On the field, he’s led the Tigers to a 26-5 record, and 22-2 record the past two falls with his own recruiting classes.
Coach Prime is expected to tell the team he’s leaving after the SWAC Championship, according to the report.
Colorado is a program under the Power 5 conference of the Pac-12. The team went 1-11 this season. Jackson State is coming off its first undefeated regular season in school history at 11-0.
SWAC Hall of Fame reporter Rob Jay joked with Sanders about Colorado’s job offer to him.
Rob Jay & Deion Sanders joke about the Colorado job offer 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/LZWyWrhSCM
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) November 30, 2022
When asked if his son and star quarterback Shedeur would join him, Sanders laughed and asked the reporter if he had any children.
Sanders, known as “Prime Time” in his days as an athlete, played in both the World Series and Super Bowl. He’s widely regarded as the greatest cornerback in NFL history, one of the best players ever in NFL history, and played multiple seasons in Major League Baseball as well.
