UNSCRIPTED:Coach Deion Sanders Leaves JSU for a “Prime Time” Payday!

Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer

The heading to this story has left many scratching their heads as to what the REAL reason was for NFL Hall-Of-Famer and former Jackson State University head football coach Deion “Prime-Time” Sanders to abruptly leave this HBCU to go to the University of Colorado. Was it money, prestige, or any other factors that the sports world has pondered and shared in the days since his press conference in Boulder, Colorado? In today's UNSCRIPTED I want to share MY OWN personal thoughts as to why he left and what the terms will mean for Colorado football and for the Jackson State program that he leaves behind….

As I take a look at the entire process behind Coach Sanders leaving Jackson State I think that it’s important to keep in mind what he did for the university and historical black colleges and universities’ (HCBU’S) in general. Historically black college athletics have been looked upon as “second tier” or “minor leagues” when discussing big-time, revenue-producing sports, so when you look at where JSU was prior to his arrival on campus and where they are now after his departure, it’s like night and day. But, even before I share the financial impact that was made and how his influence made many of our nations top Power 5 schools take notice when recruiting, lets take a look at Jackson State University pre-Deion Sanders.

Jackson State competes in the SWAC conference and for over a decade had been mired in a losing tradition with the top players in the country not really considering them as their “school of choice” for football or virtually any other sports. There was no real tradition and though great athletes played in their programs winning had become a “distant memory” for them. Upon his arrival at Jackson State in 2020 and a huge 53-0 win in his first game, Jackson State began to elevate to national standards simply because the public was intrigued to see how a man (with no prior head coaching experience) could take this 2nd level program and make them respectful to the public.

With  viewership surpassing 200,000 online views in that inaugural season, ESPN & ESPN 2 quickly came onboard to see what the interest was in this program as JSU finished 4-3 for the season. In the 2021 season Coach Sanders led JSU back to championship level football by posting an 11-win season, and their first SWAC championship since 2007 finishing 8-0 in conference play. Along the way Jackson State set an FCS (football championship subdivision) record for attendance averaging more than 42,000 per home game.

But it's gets better!  Coach Sanders was named:

*SWAC Coach of the Year

*Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year

*Black College Hall of Fame Coach of the Year with his son (Shedeur) being named Freshman of the year as he threw for over 3,000 yards with 30 touchdown passes and only 8 interceptions.

Coach Sanders became a strong advocate for “leveling the playing field” for HBCU’S and the nations top colleges, and pushed for opportunities to highlight the top talent in the SWAC across the culture. He held a “Pro Day” featuring athletes from 4 other schools in the state of Misssissippi to show their talents in front of 22 NFL teams and the CFL which futher emphasized his impact at Jackson State.

So where am I going with this commentary?

The level of influence that Deion Sanders has in this sport is IMMEASURABLE! He has placed black college athletics firmly in the nation’s eye and opened the doors for top high school football talent to begin considering attending black colleges which was something that had hardly been considered in years past.

So, while I can understand people feeling upset that Coach Sanders leaving Jackson State for the University of Colorado may hurt the SWAC and it’s member schools, the doors that will become opened for other black coaches in Power 5 schools hopefully will be far-reaching. Coach Sanders said “God sent me to Jackson State to revive a culture, and gain a level of respectability to schools in the south” and I think that he has more than done that!

What does his move to the University of Colorado mean?

Let’s start with the obvious. Coach Sanders made roughly 1.2 million for 4 years at JSU (approximately $300,000 a year) His contract at Colorado calls for him to make roughly 29.5 million per year with many incentives and clauses. So is he chasing the “money bag?” I emphatically say NO and here’s why…

Coach Sanders played 14 seasons in the NFL  and was one of the best to ever play his position. He has  worked for the NFL Network, CBS Sports,  GameDay Prime, and Thursday Night Football and has numerous commercial endorsements available to him.  It is estimated that his Net Worth is over 45 million dollars so money is no object for him. In my opinion, he could have waited for a more prominent position to unveil itself but he chose Colorado, and they rewarded him for it, so how could that be considered money grabbing when they came after him? He had the opportunity to better himself, and an even better platform to market players, his school, the BIG 12 Conference, and himself as a quality head coach. Which if you are reading this story would you not have jumped at this opportunity? Jackson State University will elevate another coach to fill Coach Prime’s position (which I’m sure they’ll want his input on) and envitably will be fine. He changed their culture and the SWCA Conference as a whole which I feel he will do if given time at the University of Colorado. We should celebrate our people having the opportunity to advance in their chosen field instead of  belittling them or placing OUR narrative into the conversation. For what it’s worth I say bravo Coach Prime and good luck moving forward, you deserve it!