Colorado hires Sanders to be its football coach
Deion Sanders is taking over as head coach at Colorado, bringing his charisma and largerthan-life persona to a beleaguered Pac-12 program that’s plunged to the bottom of college football.
The deal was announced Saturday night by Colorado 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. Sanders has guided 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.
Sanders told his team after the game he had accepted another job, but intended to coach Jackson State (12-0) in the Celebration Bowl for historically Black colleges on
Dec. 17 in Atlanta against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion North Carolina Central.
“In coaching you either get elevated or you get terminated,” Sanders told his team. “There ain’t no graveyard for coaches where they die at the place. They either going to run you off or you going to walk off.”
Sanders talked about the dearth of Black head coaches at the highest levels of college football and trying to be a catalyst for change.
“It’s not about a bag,” Sanders said. “It’s about an opportunity.”
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 high-stepping, play-making NFL career, the 55-year-old 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 top-level talent.
Elsewhere: South Florida hired Tennessee offensive coordinator
Alex Golesh as its new head football coach. Golesh, who came to Tennessee with head coach Josh Heupel in 2021 after the two were at Central Florida in 2019, takes over a USF program that went 1-11 this year. The Bulls finished 0-8 in the American Athletic Conference. South Florida fired Jeff Scott last month after he went 4-26 over two-plus seasons. Golesh is a finalist for the Broyles Award, honoring the top assistant coach in college football.
ETC. Golf:
Viktor Hovland joined Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the Hero World Challenge. The wins were nothing alike. A year ago, Hovland rallied from six behind.
On Sunday in the Bahamas, he had a four-shot lead at the turn and had to make a 20-foot bogey putt on the last hole to hold off Scottie Scheffler. Hovland shot a 69. Scheffler fell five behind after a double bogey on the 18th hole and was happy to at least have a chance on the 18th hole.
Scheffler needed a win to return to No. 1 in the world. Woods won in 2006 and 2007. Hovland finished at 16-under 272 and won $1 million. The victory is unofficial, but the world ranking points pushed him up three spots to No. 9 . ... Thriston Lawrence held on to win his home South African Open by one shot despite a final-round 2-over 74 at the Blair Atholl course in Johannesburg.
He started the day with a two-shot lead over Clement Sordet of
France and despite extending his advantage to five strokes early on the back nine, the South African only just managed to hold off his playing partner to finish with an overall 16-under 272. The victory is his third on the European tour, following wins at the Joburg Open a year ago and the European Masters in August. Jens Fahrbring of Sweden (70) finished third, two shots off the pace, and Germany’s Matti Schmid was fourth.
MLB: The Chicago White Sox and right-hander Mike Clevinger finalized a one-year, $12 million. Clevinger will make $8 million in 2023, and there is a mutual $12 million option for 2024 that includes a $4 million buyout. Clevinger, 31, went 7-7 with a 4.33 ERA in 23 games, including 22 starts, for San Diego this year.