Sanders takes over Jackson St.

Deion Sanders was introduced as the football coach at Jackson State on Monday with a ceremony fitting for a former player known as Prime Time.

The school’s marching band played and Sanders grew emotional as he spoke. “These are tears of satisfaction. These are tears of joy,” he said at his introductory news conference in Jackson, Miss. “These are tears that — you don’t understand the prayers that have been made. These are tears that have accompanied me through this journey. These are tears of satisfaction.”

Sanders himself had made the announcement, a sign that this would be no ordinary football coach. “God called me to Jackson State,” he said in the first episode of his “21st and Prime” podcast Sunday night.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who has also been hailed as one of the greatest college players of his era, Sanders, 53, has been a high school assistant high for the past four years in Cedar Hill. He will finish this season as offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian, where his son Shedeur is a star quarterback. Shedeur Sanders is committed to Florida Atlantic.

The time was right to make a move, he said on his podcast. “Why not? Isn’t this the time?” Sanders asked. “Isn’t this the moment? Isn’t this what’s needed? To match what our (university) president eloquently said, it’s a match made in heaven. This is a God move.”

Jackson State declined to renew the contract of John Hendrick in August and installed offensive coordinator TC Taylor as interim coach. With the Southwestern Athletic Conference postponing fall sports amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Tigers’ first football game is scheduled for Feb. 19.

Sanders, who was selected for eight Pro Bowls and was a sixtime first-team all-pro over a 14-year NFL career, first coached at a charter school he helped found in 2012, Prime Prep Academy. The school closed in 2015 after surrendering its charter amid allegations of financial mismanagement.