Sanders named coach at Colorado

BOULDER, Colo.— Deion Sanders is taking over as head coach at Colorado, bringing his charisma and larger-thanlife persona to a beleaguered Pac-12 program that’s plunged to the bottom of college football.

The deal was announced Saturday night by CU athletic director Rick George.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been at Jackson State, a historically Black college that plays in the NCAA’s second tier of Division I, since 2020 — guiding the Tigers to consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.

The Tigers beat Southern in the SWAC championship game Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi, and a few hours later Colorado announced he was coming to Boulder.

The Tigers went 27-5 in the Sanders era and he was named SWAC coach of the year the last two seasons.

Known as “Prime

Time” during his highstepping, play-making NFL career, the 55-yearold Sanders prefers “Coach Prime” these days. Colorado will prove a challenge for the magnetic Sanders, who inherits a program coming off a 1-11 season. But he brings instant name recognition and a track record of being able to recruit toplevel talent.

Deion Sanders was an All-American at Florida State before a standout NFL career with five teams, including the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, where he won a Super Bowl with each. He also played nine MLB seasons and reached the World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 1992.

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