Colorado’s Stunning Hire; Pro Football Hall Of Famer To Take Over As The Next Head Coach
One less coach will be on the market as Pac-12 school Colorado hires Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime from Jackson State.
Colorado Swings For The Fences
Late Friday night, news broke that Deion Sanders was preparing to take the Colorado job and was expected to leave Jackson State.
Deion Sanders is preparing to accept the head coaching job at Colorado following Jackson State's SWAC title game on Saturday, per @PeteThamel pic.twitter.com/terGA6fVxC — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 3, 2022
With this hire, Colorado is hoping to regain relevance to their program. Colorado has not had a full-season winning record since 2016; they were 4-2 during the shortened season due to covid in 2020. Colorado has only one full winning season in the past 17 years.
The Colorado Buffaloes have only competed once for a Pac-12 title since they joined the conference in 2011; they lost that game to the Washington Huskies 41-10. However, the Buffaloes were once National Champions in football and hoped to gain traction towards that goal again with the hiring of Coach Deion Sanders.
Coach Prime’s Resume
High School football is where coaching started for Deion Sanders. First, he became head coach for a team he co-founded, Prime Prep Academy. He then went to coach Triple A Academy spending two seasons there before taking over Trinity Christian High School, where his sons Shilo and Shedeur played.
Deion got his first opportunity to coach college football at the Jackson State Tigers. Jackson State is a Division one school in the Football Championship series subdivision. Coach Prime joined Jackson State in 2020 during the Covid year and had a record of 4-3.
In 2021 he turned in a fantastic record of 11-2 and went 8-0 in the conference leading the Tigers to a Southwestern Athletic Conference title, he had a program record of 11 wins. Most importantly, he was able to recruit well to Jackson State; both sons, Shilo and Shedeur, played for their father. Shilo was a four-star top-300 recruit that transferred from South Carolina when Coach Prime went to Jackson State. His son Shedeur was a highly-touted quarterback coming out of high school. He was once committed to Florida Atlantic University but de-committed and joined his father at Jackson State.
In his final year in 2022, Deion Sanders flipped the number-two ranked high school player, Travis Hunter, to play at Jackson State over Florida State. Coach Prime went a perfect 12-0 his final year at Jackson State and was offered the Colorado job.
A SIGNING DAY STUNNER! Top-ranked CB Travis Hunter, ESPN's No. 2 overall player in the class of 2022, has announced on Instagram he will decommit from Florida State and sign with Jackson State and head coach Deion Sanders. pic.twitter.com/rZPVeKcvIr — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 15, 2021
In Conclusion
Is Coach Prime the right guy for the job? Time is of the essence when it comes to finding out. Deion has proven himself enough at the FCS level to coach; this guy knows football. I have witnessed many post/pre-game locker room talks, and this guy is a master motivator; it just so happens he knows a ton about Xs and O’s too.
This spot is a win/win for both Deion Sanders and Colorado. I am giving this hire a B+ grade. Colorado gets an opportunity with a new coach to be put back on the map and start competing in the Pac-12, and Deion Sanders has a chance to prove that he can coach at a power-five program.
Coach Prime should get a few transfer players from Jackson State; his sons, Shilo and Shedeur, are guaranteed to follow. The interesting one is Travis Hunter. Does he follow Deion to Colorado or find another opportunity elsewhere?
Deion has enough knowledge and recruiting talent to at least get Colorado to bowl games consistently. I don’t think Prime can get Colorado to consistently compete for a PAC-12 Championship, maybe once in a blue moon. With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, I can even see potential to compete for a National Championship in a good year for Coach Prime and Colorado.