In December, The Athletic will be honoring the coaches, athletes and other figures who made the biggest impact in the U.S. sports we cover, as well as in the fields of sports business, media and culture. We start the series with our honoree in sports culture: Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders. The full schedule is here.
Not everyone believed in what Deion Sanders wanted to do at Jackson State when he was hired in September 2020.
Someone who did believe was George Teague, Sanders’ teammate for three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. And Teague’s belief wasn’t based on Sanders’ time with the Cowboys, because he hadn’t expressed an interest in coaching at that time.
It was, however, based on what Teague saw from Sanders as a coach with Truth, the youth football program Sanders started some years prior to becoming a high school football coach in the Dallas area. But the seeds of what Sanders could do as a coach were evident.
“I knew a lot of the guys who coached with him, actually played some against him because his team was so good,” Teague, currently the head football coach and athletic director at John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas, told The Athletic. “He was wanting to play my JV teams or even my varsity teams, so that was kind of the beginning of seeing how he interacted with youth, seeing how he was impacting their lives while putting out a good product.”
Teague eventually matched wits with Sanders as a coach at the high school level.
“We’re in the same league as coaches, and again I get to see him with high school kids and putting together programs and getting winning traditions start to build,” Teague said. “So, to go to JSU and watch him do what he’s doing there, I expected it. That’s all he’s ever done anytime he’s put his hand on a program.”
There’s always been a high level of confidence about Sanders, dating back to his days as a flashy cornerback for Florida State and his Hall-of-Fame NFL career. What he’s done in three seasons as head coach at Jackson State — in addition to winning a bunch of games — is elevate the visibility of the football played at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, some that are in dire need of support. And he’s done so in “Prime” style.
Sanders’ results on the field and his role in helping to put HBCUs on a grander stage have earned him The Athletic’s Sports Culture Person of the Year for 2022.
Jackson State (11-0, 8-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference) will host Saturday’s SWAC championship game against Southern. The Tigers are 26-5 in Sanders’ three seasons. All the while, the Coach Prime era has brought legitimate attention to Jackson State and HBCU football — and has also made Sanders a popular candidate for open Power 5 jobs.
PreGame Speech: Southern Game – WHAT YOU GONE DO? pic.twitter.com/JXLWHcmFAp
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) November 3, 2022
Sanders was “Prime Time” during his playing days, but he’s now “Coach Prime” and has made Jackson State a popular football brand. He’s done so with the same kind of bravado that made him arguably the greatest cornerback in NFL history. He’s a winning coach. His swagger is undeniable, and he doesn’t apologize for doing things the conventional way. He has fun. He wins.
And he brings attention.
The Tigers’ spring game in April was the first HBCU spring game aired on ESPN. Jackson State became only the fourth HBCU to host ESPN’s “College GameDay” this past October.
Sanders also has been an advocate for other HBCUs. He’s called out NFL teams that do not attend pro days at HBCUs. He’s defended having more HBCU players at the NFL Scouting Combine. Sanders was hired at a time when HBCUs began receiving more mainstream attention during a social justice awakening some experienced in 2020 — the same year George Floyd was murdered in Minnesota.
Sanders has put action behind his words, hosting a pro day last April for athletes from four different schools in Mississippi and bringing 22 teams from across the NFL and Canadian Football League to scout talent.
More than two years later, the attention paid to those issues has waned for some. Sanders’ name and high-profile status mean anything associated with Jackson State also receives attention. Conversely, when Sanders spoke on HBCU inequality with the combine or the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., he called the lack of a solution a matter of “equality.”
“I don’t want to say this with any disrespect to anyone before in HBCUs, but Deion has the ability to go across the color line when it comes to notoriety, who he is and how to bring people with him,” Teague said. “That ain’t got nothing to do with Xs and Os; that’s just the power of him being known, being trusted and trying to do what’s best for the community that should be recognized more.”
Sanders has preached that being at an HBCU does not equate to a less fulfilling college experience on or off the field. He’s been able to land transfers from Power 5 schools, as well as star athlete Travis Hunter, the nation’s No. 1 high school player in the 2022 recruiting class, per Rivals.com and 247 Sports. Hunter is wrapping up his freshman season as a cornerback and wide receiver for the Tigers. He is the highest-rated player to ever sign with an HBCU.
Sanders is not setting the bar low for himself or the program.
“One of the things Deion says is, ‘Hey, before we even get going, don’t be sending me guys you won’t send to your alma mater,’” said Teague, who played his college ball at Alabama. “’If you’re going to send him to Alabama, I want that guy. Just don’t try to send me whoever because we’re boys or something like that.’”
But Sanders does rub some wrong, even in the HBCU community. Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr., also a former NFL player, called out Sanders for disrespect leading up to the game and said he “ain’t SWAC.”
Sanders getting that kind of reaction isn’t a total surprise. He made his name in the NFL with sterling play and a bravado to match. Someone who learned that quickly was Tom Holmoe. He’s currently BYU’s athletic director, but in 1994, he was in his first year as defensive backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers and was charged with teaching Sanders the defense after he joined the team.
Holmoe was talking, but he was positive Sanders wasn’t doing much listening.
“After about a half an hour, I’m thinking, ‘This is not going anywhere,’” Holmoe told The Athletic. “I said, ‘Look, Deion, we’re going to call something, you’ve got to know what you’re doing.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, Coach. You just put me in man coverage, and I’ll take care of everything else.’”
It’s the kind of exchange that could easily sour a coach on a player — but it had the opposite effect. It led to hours of conversation about their families, their backgrounds and more. It was the start of a relationship in which Sanders went on to win Defensive Player of the Year and the 49ers won the Super Bowl that season.
“I love that man; he’s something else,” Holmoe said. “I like Deion off the field more than I do on the field. People don’t understand, off the field, he’s a great, great, great dude.”
Deion Sanders, with his son, quarterback Shedeur (2), and the rest of the Jackson State team after a win earlier this season. (Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press)
The Prime persona can be intimidating. It’s bigger than life. It’s gold chains, rings and a cell phone on draft day. It’s the “Must Be The Money” music video. It’s the notion that he’s a “me first” player because of the Prime Time brand.
But those who have met Sanders know him differently.
“As much as we look at him through the lens of stardom or superstardom, you can still sit down with him, crack jokes with him, eat fried catfish, talk about each other’s clothes or whatever it is,” Teague said. “He’s still that guy. He’s the same guy that was in the locker room, so these kids can relate to that on any level because he’s a magnet to where he’s just not ‘I’m holier than thou, so I can’t speak like you or listen to the music you listen to.’ That’s just not him.”
“Prime,” “Prime Time” or “Neon Deion” aren’t exactly the kind of nicknames some might associate with a head coach. But it works for Sanders, and it works for the players and his coaching staff. That’s largely because of Sanders being an authentic person.
You’re going to get Prime, because Prime is as confident as they come and wants to dominate everything. But he’s also going to put in the work to back up being Prime. Sanders, Holmoe recalled, kept a Rolodex to call players around the league to pick their brains about what they saw to improve his own game while always intently studying film in his own time.
“That’s Prime. That’s the part everybody sees,” Holmoe said. “And it makes him a lot of money; he’s a great brand. But Deion, his other side, was super smart, very intelligent, (had) super instincts for the game. He would not want to look like he was studying anything, but at night, he’d want tapes and he’d go home at night and he’d study tapes on his own.”
Teague recalled a similar work ethic. He believes the attention to detail is why Sanders is succeeding — because he’s willing to do everything to be great.
“He was the first player I saw who had his own little machine that was portable, and he’d be watching a game by himself on the bus,” Teague said. “While I’m sitting there jamming to 2Pac, he’s sitting there watching additional tape and film.”
Teague added that the way Sanders has worked to bring NFL scouts’ attention to HBCU players and putting on a combine wasn’t about Sanders patting himself on the back.
“When he gets there in the game and then starts to invite others to other things, that’s outreach. That’s service. That’s biblical,” Teague said. “That’s seeking to serve something greater than himself. People might get it confused with ‘that’s just about Deion,’ but what he’s actually trying to do is help a lot of people.”
Some wonder if he’ll make the jump to a bigger college opportunity, where the Coach Prime brand could be worth even more and attract a wider range of talent. He had already admitted in a “60 Minutes” interview last month that he would entertain offers. And then, earlier this week, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported Sanders had been offered the Colorado job — which Sanders later confirmed.
But even if he leaves Jackson State, Sanders has made an impact in his short stint. And if he doesn’t leave, Sanders can continue to build a top-tier program in the SWAC while also uplifting all HBCUs.
“Him using his influence to pull everyone into a massive movement is outstanding, and I don’t think it can be duplicated,” Teague said. “It takes a very special person to do what he’s doing.”
(Top illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; photo: Charles A. Smith / Jackson State University via Getty Images)
