Colorado expects Deion Sanders to formally be a part of this system as its subsequent head soccer coach Saturday night following the 2022 SWAC Championship Recreation, sources near the hiring course of inform CBS Sports activities’ Dennis Dodd. A forthcoming choice by Sanders had been anticipated for weeks as a number of FBS gives got here his approach, however “Coach Prime” has chosen to not make his intentions recognized till after Jackson State faces Southern for the SWAC title.
Sanders has spent the final three seasons teaching Jackson State, going 26-5 total and 11-0 this season. The Tigers posted a 21-40 report throughout the six seasons previous to his arrival. Sanders took JSU to a 4-3 report in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the identical variety of wins it achieved in 2019 (4-8). Jackson State is 22-2 during the last two seasons with an ideal 16-0 mark in SWAC play.
Whereas at JSU, Sanders recruited a number of the nation’s high expertise — together with the No. 1 recruit within the Class of 2022, cornerback Travis Hunter — whereas revitalizing this system. A few of expertise that might observe him to Colorado; Sanders has already been recruiting highschool prospects and switch portal entrants earlier than formally taking the Buffaloes job, in line with a number of reviews.
CBS Information Colorado reported Friday that Colorado provided Sanders a contract with a beginning wage of “greater than $5 million” with incentives that might see the annual pay improve “by roughly 40%” if met.
The Buffaloes fired coach Karl Dorrell in October after beginning 0-5. Dorrell took over this system in 2020 after Mel Tucker unexpectedly left for Michigan State. Dorrell’s tenure began properly sufficient with Colorado going 4-2 in a shortened season, but it surely misplaced 13 of its subsequent 17 video games below his management.
Attention-grabbing choice by Sanders
Whereas it is unknown if Cincinnati or South Florida formally provided Sanders — not to mention the worth of these potential offers — Colorado feels just like the oddest match of Sanders’ three most outstanding choices, at the very least on the floor. Coach Prime is from Fort Myers, Florida, roughly a two-hour drive south of Tampa the place USF is positioned. He performed college football at Florida State and is a well-recognized identify in not simply the Sunshine State however all through Georgia given his time taking part in for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Braves. He additionally spent 4 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds throughout his MLB profession and is conversant in that metropolis as properly.
However Sanders has no earlier connection to Colorado or the Pac-12. In fact, he’s “Deion Sanders.” It isn’t as if folks of Colorado have by no means heard of him. Nevertheless, when handicapping the three gigs as “most closely fits” for Sanders, Colorado gave the impression to be the least seemingly.
It is clear Sanders feels in a different way. Maybe the attraction of teaching a longtime Energy 5 program performed a job in his choice. Cincinnati will be a part of the Huge 12 in 2023, and whereas that is an excellent transfer on the floor, it additionally presents an unknown future for this system in a brand new league. It is in all probability a part of why Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin regardless of main the Bearcats to the School Soccer Playoff in 2021.
Sanders may also see a chance with the Buffaloes in a new-look Pac-12. When USC and UCLA depart to hitch the Huge Ten in 2024, it’s going to depart an infinite energy vacuum on the high of the league. Maybe Sanders feels that his capacity to attract expertise to Boulder, coupled along with his teaching talent can set up Colorado as a dominant program out West.
Colorado wants Sanders’ assist
When Sanders took over at Jackson State, he discovered himself on the helm of a program that had produced some nice gamers however hadn’t skilled a excessive degree of success. Jackson State hadn’t received the SWAC since 2007, which then was its first convention title since 1996. Sanders received the league in his second season and did it once more in his third.
Colorado hasn’t received a convention title because the 2001 season, when it was nonetheless a member of the Huge 12. It is solely been to 2 bowl video games within the final 15 years, and a type of appearances got here in 2020. Since becoming a member of the Pac-12 in 2011, the Buffaloes have gone 48-94 total, 27-76 in convention play.
If ever there was a Energy 5 program in want of a jolt of electrical energy to convey it again to life, Colorado is it. This system has had mediocre outcomes on the recruiting path as properly; it hasn’t had a recruiting class ranked within the high 30 since 2008 and has routinely discovered itself exterior the highest 50.
Sanders’ capacity to draw expertise was a major consider Colorado’s curiosity.
