The long-anticipated marriage between Colorado and Deion Sanders has finally been consummated. The Buffaloes announced Sanders as their 28th head football coach Saturday night shortly after his Jackson State Tigers defeated Southern 43-24 to win the 2022 SWAC Championship Game.
“There were a number of highly qualified and impressive candidates interested in becoming the next head football coach at Colorado, but none of them had the pedigree, the knowledge and the ability to connect with student-athletes like Deion Sanders,” said Colorado athletic director Rick George in a statement. “Not only will Coach Prime energize our fanbase, I’m confident that he will lead our program back to national prominence while leading a team of high quality and high character.”
Sanders, 55, was expected to announce his intention join Colorado after the SWAC championship, sources close to the hiring process told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. Following Jackson State’s victory, “Coach Prime” told his team that he would indeed be leaving for Boulder, 247Sports’ Carl Reed confirmed.
Sanders told Jackson State players that he will coach the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17 against North Carolina Central in Atlanta.
Sanders has spent the last three seasons coaching Jackson State where the Tigers have gone 27-5 overall with a perfect 12-0 mark this season. JSU posted a 21-40 record across the six seasons prior to his arrival. Sanders took the program to a 4-3 record during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the same number of wins it achieved in 2019 (4-8). Jackson State is 23-2 over the last two seasons with an unblemished 16-0 mark in SWAC play and consecutive conference championships.
While at JSU, Sanders recruited some of the country’s top talent — including the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022, cornerback Travis Hunter — which played a role in the revitalization of the program. Some of talent that could follow him to Colorado; Sanders has already been recruiting high school prospects and transfer portal entrants before formally taking the Buffaloes job, according to multiple reports.
CBS News Colorado reported Friday that Colorado offered Sanders a contract with a starting salary of “more than $5 million” with incentives that could see the annual pay increase “by roughly 40%” if met.
The Buffaloes fired coach Karl Dorrell in October after starting 0-5. Dorrell took over the program…
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