Deion Sanders is quite the story! Born in Florida his parents divorced when he was 2.
He played football, basketball, and baseball in high school and was named to the Florida All-Century Team in football and drafted by the Kansas City Royals out of high school.
He was a three-sport athlete at Florida State – football, baseball, and track. He excelled in all 3 earning most honors in football.
Sander’s baseball career started with the Yankees in 1989 and ended in 2001 with Cincinnati. His career average is .263 with 186 stolen bases.
He played pro football from 1989 to 2005 as a cornerback and return specialist. He won two Super Bowls and one World Series. He was inducted into the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame in 2011.
His coaching career started in 2012 at Prime Prep Academy which he co-founded followed by 2 years as head coach at Triple A Academy before going to Trinity Christian High School as offensive coordinator so he could coach his sons: Shilo, Shedeur, and Deion, Jr.
Prior to his latest gig, Deion dabbled in everything from being a rapper to hosting Saturday Night Live.
Here’s the rub starts for me! In 2020 Deion Sanders became head coach at Jackson State a job he held 3 years before jumping to Colorado where his Buffaloes won their third straight game last Saturday.
The move to Colorado by Coach Prime is being called the most exciting event in sports by many.
I agree it is an amazing move, but it also represents conduct in major college athletics that won’t be sustainable over time without some serious rule adjustments.
Here’s why: When Sanders left Jackson State to go to Colorado he not only took the best players from Jackson State’s team he also took the entire coaching staff and most of their helpers.
He also suggested using very explicit language to the returning Colorado players that they should seriously consider entering the transfer portal because “he was coming” and they likely wouldn’t fit!
In total Colorado’s roster is now made up of 86 transfer players and less than 2 dozen returnees.
What’s the problem you ask?
The current rules that allow players to transfer will make behavior like Coach Primes’s something that will continue to happen.
That might be great for Colorado but not so much for Jackson State who is now 2 and 2 and lost to Texas State Saturday 77 to 34!
So much for commitment, loyalty, and culture in athletics – traits many consider essential for building good teams.
