Deion Sanders beat his new employer to the punch. At 10 AM on Monday morning, Jackson State University was set to announce who their new head football coach would be. The school was scooped by the coach himself, when Deion Sanders welcomed the President and Athletic Director on to the first episode of 21st and Prime to announce that he would be the Tigers’ new head football coach.
The news isn’t really a surprise. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellinger reported over the weekend that Jackson State University and Sanders were finalizing a deal.
When his 21st and Prime co-host Jamie Bell asked Sanders “Why college?,” Primetime said the reason was bigger than football.
“Why not? Isn’t this the time? Isn’t this the moment? Isn’t this what’s needed?”
The theme of “what’s needed” came up a lot as Sanders discussed his reasons for starting his college coaching career at a small, underfunded historically black university in Mississippi.
“Honestly man, I’ve been offered pro jobs so people know,” Sanders said. “I could be an assistant at any college, a head coach at any college, but at a time such as this, God called me to Jackson State and me to these men.”
Plenty have wondered whether Deion Sanders can host shows for Barstool while coaching a college football program. Sanders said upon being hired by Barstool that the company knew he was interested in becoming a head coach in college.
Many college coaches, across all sports, have podcasts. Sanders is the only one who’s podcast is hosted by an outlet as buzz worthy as Barstool. It could become quite the recruiting tool.
The Tigers went 4-8 last year, so there is clearly a lot of work to do. The team will not kickoff its season until February, when it is scheduled to play eight games along with the rest of the South Western Athletic Conference.
