Is Jackson State Football Coach Deion Sanders heading to Colorado?

ESPN's Pete Thamel is reporting that Jackson State Coach Deion "Primetime" Sanders, 26-5 over three seasons, will be named the head coach at the University of Colorado this weekend after the Tigers' SWAC Championship battle with the Southern University Jaguars.

My Hobbservations

1. "Must be the Money"

Remember Coach Prime's R&B cut, "Must Be the Money," from the 90's? I sure do, and it does not take a math genius to realize that $5 million per year at Colorado is a heckuva lot more than $300k per year at Jackson State.

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Now, lots of people have opined since 2020 that "Prime don't need the money," but do we really know that? Seriously, unless your name is listed adjacent to Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, or other members of the Billion Dollar BIG Baller club, a $4.2 million dollar per year raise would be very hard for any of us to turn to down, if we are being honest.

2. "Jackson State is his calling..."

Black folks, by and large, love us some religion, so much so that when testimonials start from public figures about what God has said to them or done in their lives, such nearly renders the testifier "untouchable" by the modern Saints and Apostles.

Coach Sanders often openly expresses his faith, and has not been shy in declaring that he chose Jackson State because "God placed a calling" on his heart.

Well, as a Christian myself, I've always believed in the secular "reason, season, lifetime" adage and if Sanders leaves his calling at Jackson State to pursue a new calling at Colorado, the optimistic view is that the reason and season of his Jackson State tenure was to remind HBCU's of their awesome brands and unlimited potential. Lest we forget that Jackson State University has four alumni in the NFL Hall of Fame--FAR more than most PWI schools, including Colorado. Ditto for fellow HBCU's South Carolina State, Grambling, Southern, and Tennessee State! If Coach Prime leaves, he leaves having spent over two years using his public platforms to raise awareness of HBCU football history that not even all Black people knew before he took the job--while calling out the NFL's reticence to draft or sign HBCU players, and that's a net positive!

The pessimistic view, one that I've seen quite a bit over the past 12 hours since the Colorado info leaked, is that Coach Prime is only out for Coach Prime, and that all of his "for the culture" talk was just that--talk to secure opportunities and the bag at higher levels. Honestly, only God and Prime know whether the optimistic, pessimistic, or some variant viewpoint is the truth, and far be it from me to judge what motivates the next person.

Still, I honestly believe that the days of the "life calling" coaches like FAMU's Jake Gaither, Grambling's Eddie Robinson, Jackson/Tennessee State's John Merritt, and even Coach Prime's own college coach, Bobby Bowden, are long gone. Why? The business side of the game has made it far too financially palatable for coaches to jump ship to more lucrative opportunities, a fact that leads me to the next point:

3. What about all of the Jackson State players who signed to play for Coach Prime--and their futures?

Should Prime leave, it stands to figure that his star sons, Sheduer and Shilo, will go with him. Ditto for former 5-star cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, All-SWAC freshman receiver Kevin Coleman, and perhaps 10 to 20 other 3-5 star players who had their choice of schools since 2020--but chose to play for Jackson State.

But what about the other 70 or 80 kids on the roster? The ones who also signed with JSU because they wanted to play for a living NFL Hall of Fame legend? I have it from an excellent source that many of these young men are hurt, angry, frustrated, and sad as they learn one of the toughest lessons of adulthood in real time from Coach Prime, which is that change is constant--and inevitable!

I have no doubt that Jackson State will hire a talented coach--contrary to popular belief, there are PLENTY of great Black coaches out there itching for an opportunity to lead a Blue-Blood HBCU program. But I imagine that it has to hurt those current players who won't be able to hop into the transfer portal as easily as their higher rated teammates.

4. HBCU Made: After a much publicized awkward moment following the Alabama State game where legendary SWAC linebacker (and new Alabama State Coach) Eddie Robinson said that Sanders "ain't SWAC," which was followed by the now viral "Who is SWAC, if Prime ain't SWAC," the truth is that Sanders's college coaching career does not take off without HBCU's. Yes, Sanders played his college ball at Florida State University--but he is not a graduate of FSU, but of Talladega College, another storied HBCU. That's important to remember because until he graduated from Talladega, he wasn't qualified to get a head coaching job at an NCAA school. Thus, for all of the talk of Sanders being the "savior" of HBCU football, the truth is that HBCU football, specifically Jackson State, saved Sanders from the critics who just two years ago, were questioning his coaching credentials on the youth and high school levels. Now, those same critics are cheering his exit to the Power Five level.

5. Colorado Culture Clash

In my opinion, while Coach Sanders didn't play college ball at an HBCU, all of us who lived in Tallahassee when he was playing at FSU remember how he spent a great deal of time across the tracks at FAMU--just like most of the FSU and the then dominant Miami Hurricanes Black players did back in the day. Sanders, like me, came up during an era when rap groups like the 2 Live Crew, Poison Clan, and the Jam Pony Express DJ's, when in Tallahassee, were ALWAYS chilling and performing "On the Highest of Seven Hills" (FAMU) or at "The Moon," a club that was predominantly filled with FAMU students. Invariably, Sanders's swag, the "Primetime" persona that he created back in the late 80's while at FSU, is deeply rooted in Black culture, a fact that made so much sense while coaching at a storied HBCU like Jackson State.

Indeed, Black College culture is just different, from the bands, to the fans in the stands, to even the food and music during the tailgates, and while many of Prime's recruits at Jackson State wanted to be coached by a legend, they and their families enjoyed the feeling of being at home, surrounded by "the culture," and for parents, only being a few hours away from their sons' games.

I have no doubt that Sanders will draw some great recruits to Colorado, and that he eventually will have some success there because of it. But will he draw the same love from CU fans in predominantly white Boulder, Colorado in the same way that he drew love in predominantly Black Jackson, Mississippi? The CU band surely ain't the JSU "Sonic Boom of the South," and something tells me that the crowds won't break out in spontaneous Gospel singing or praise dancing in the same way that one experiences on Black College campuses.

The "culture" may not be an important consideration for some folks, but Sanders, well at least the "Prime" part of Sanders, seemingly enjoys public adoration and I can't help but wonder what happens if by year three, if Colorado is struggling on the ball field in the same way that Texas A&M, despite its strong recruiting under Jimbo Fisher, has struggled on the field, will the love turn to hate? Understanding that the culture of Power Five Football is ALL about winning and making money, if Coach Sanders doesn't deliver big wins and deliver them quickly, his "Prime" persona may not save him from suffering the fate of Brothers Kevin Sumlin, Herm Edwards, Willie Taggart, and others who were not allowed to deliver annual mediocre returns on million dollar investments in the same way as Jimbo Fisher, Tom Herman, Lane Kiffin and the like keep their jobs or get hired at new FBS jobs despite suspect records.

That said, should Coach Sanders leave, I will wish him well in his new calling, while I continue my own calling of promoting and supporting my alma maters, Morehouse and Florida A&M, and Sister HBCU's across America!