Deion Sanders responds to criticism for moving from Jackson State to Colorado

[ad_1]

Deion Sanders will coach Jackson State on Saturday in the Celebration Bowl, his final game as Tigers head coach before moving to the University of Colorado.

Coach Prime’s decision was criticized as much, and perhaps more, than it was celebrated.

Sanders, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has heard all the noise since he made his departure official.

But he set the record straight at a Friday press conference in Atlanta.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE AT FOXNEWS.COM

Deion Sanders, Colorado’s new head football coach, answers questions from the Arrow Touchdown Club during a press conference on December 4, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Sanders noted that he never claimed he would stay at Jackson State forever.

“I never said they were going to put a headstone with my name on it at Jackson State. So I wasn’t going to die here. You all know that,” he said.

But Sanders also had to let it be known that he accomplished everything he said he would do in his first college head coaching gig. Sanders has made headlines in recent years for helping revitalize a much smaller, historically black college football program.

“Everything I said I would do, I did. Everything I said I wanted to happen, I did my best to make it happen. We overshot, I think, expectations, in some areas,” Sanders said,

Deion Sanders waves a jersey after being introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Colorado during a press conference on December 4, 2022 in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

“But when I don’t fit into someone else’s plan and purpose, now there’s ridicule. But you forgot my plan and God’s purpose. That’s where the dysfunction comes.

“At what point do we keep dominating, so you don’t get mad at us for dominating? Because it’s a level of dominance when you start to turn. And I felt we start to have some tension from our own people, because you’re dominant. But there comes a time when that’s not what matters to me. I’m a winner. I’ve always won. I’m going to win.

DEION SANDERS OFFICIALLY APPOINTED HEAD COACH IN COLORADO

“I’m a football manager and a damn good one. Name one thing in football that we haven’t achieved and I said we would. But it’s bigger than that. And as long as we don’t If we don’t address these underlying issues that no one wants to talk about, that’s not going to change.

“I’m an agent of change. When we leave, you’ll find out everything we’ve done. Because they don’t really talk about positivity until we leave. You’ll find out everything we’ve done for Jackson State and all that we wanted to do for Jackson State. I just pray to God that in all of our endeavors we understand change and where change really starts. It doesn’t start in the football department.

So despite all the criticism he’s received, Sanders seems at peace with what he’s done for Jackson State and historically black universities.

Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders watches his players before the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game against Southern University on Dec. 3, 2022 in Jackson, Mississippi (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

With Jackson State, Sanders went 27-5, and his team is 12-0 for the second straight season.

The Colorado program fell on hard times and fired head coach Karl Dorrell after an 0-5 start to the season.

The Buffs finished their 2022 campaign 1-8 in the Pac-12 and were eliminated by Utah in their final game, 63-21.

[ad_2]