Getty Former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders poses with his bust at the Enshrinement Ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Atlanta Falcons legend turned college football coach Deion Sanders is headed West after being named the next head coach at the University of Colorado.
Colorado made the official announcement on Saturday, December 3 around 10 pm.
AD Rick George has named COACH PRIME @DeionSanders to be the 28th full-time head football coach at CU.
Welcome Coach Prime to Colorado!
Deion Sanders Led JSU to Back-to-Back Undefeated Seasons
The news isn’t shocking as rumors swirled in November that Sanders had been up for the vacant job with the Buffaloes.
Sanders plans to coach Jackson State through their Bowl game on December 17.
The NFL Hall of Famer played a lead role in turning the Jackson State Tigers football program around. The Tigers went undefeated (12-0) this season after winning the SWAC Championship for the second-straight year, which is a vast accomplishment both for Sanders and the Tigers, who were just a 4-8 team before Sanders took over as head coach during the COVID-plagued 2020 season.
As for the Colorado Buffaloes, they went 1-11 this season and fired head coach Karl Dorrell in early October following a rough 0-5 start. Colorado is hoping Sanders can turn things around as he did at JSU, considering the Buffaloes have not won more than five games in a single season since 2016.
Deion Sanders Broke the News to Jackson State Players First
Before the big news broke of Prime heading to Colorado, he took the time to sit down with his Jackson State team and made sure they were the first to know.
Deion telling his team he’s going to Colorado
“I would like for y’all to hear it from me and not anyone else,” coach Prime said. “In coaching you either in coaching you get elevated or you get terminated. Ain’t no other way. There is no graveyard for coaches where they die at the place, either you go walk off on your own recognize or get run off. There ain’t no other way. I have chosen to accept the job elsewhere next year. I am going to finish what we started. We are going to dominate and I will be here until that end and that conclusion and then we are going to move on.”
Sanders spoke on the struggles of being a Black coach––especially at the NFL level and how he wants to play a role in eliminating those struggles by taking a step forward.
“If someone doesn’t step up and step out and hold it down for us,” Sanders told his team. “That is a problem. Many of the detractors don’t understand that college football consists of 70% African Americans. It just happens to be more at an HBCU. It is not like I am not going to speak into young African American men alike, because my challenge is still to provoke change no matter where I am at.”
He also warned the players not to go jumping into the transfer portal, but instead come to him first.
“Don’t jump into the portal,” Sanders said, “whether it is 11 or 22, we are going to Atlanta to kick some butt. I would hate for you to be at home looking at us on TV doing our thing. Make sure you choose properly and if anyone has a problem, I would want you to come straight to me about it so I can set you straight. So I can give you some real direction in life and what I see for you and what I think you should do as a man. I won’t tell you no wrong, I am going to tell you right.”
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Falcons Legend Deion Sanders Lands New Head Coaching Job