Deion Sanders on criticism of his move to Colorado: ‘I know my heart’

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When Deion Sanders was named head football coach at Jackson State University on September 21, 2020, he made a promise to athletic director Ashley Robinson.

“He asked me to give him at least two years,” Sanders told FOX Sports’ Shannon Sharpe during a candid one-on-one chat on this week’s episode of “Club Shay Shay.” “I told him, you got it.”

Fast forward 27 months, and Sanders is coming off his final game as Jackson State head coach, a 41-34 loss to North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl.

Sanders, 55, who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and considered by many to be the greatest defensive back in NFL history, has been named the University of Colorado’s next head football coach. at the beginning of the month. He heads to Boulder after spending three seasons at Jackson State, an HBCU in Jackson, Mississippi.

[Coaching hire grades: Colorado gets an A for landing Deion Sanders]

His decision to leave Jackson State for Colorado was not without criticism, however. Reporter Bomani Jones, who also attended an HBCU, Clark Atlanta University, was one of several on-air personalities who shared their open displeasure with Sanders’ departure from Jackson State.

“He sold a dream, then gave up on that dream,” Jones said during an appearance on CNN.

Asked about the criticism he’s received in recent weeks, Sanders told Sharpe it’s only natural.

“People have been hurt, and when people are hurt, often their first response is not the response that should be given,” Sanders said. “They say things out of emotion and anger.

“I just said to myself: if I didn’t know who I was and where I was going, I would believe some of these things.” But I know myself, I know my heart, I know my intentions and I know God.”

When Sanders arrived at Jackson State, he set out to turn around a football program that hadn’t had a winning season since 2013. But his aspirations for the program went beyond his performances on the gridiron.

“I thought we could win, we could graduate at a certain pace, and we could treat these kids well and raise them as young men,” Sanders said. “It was the dream, and the dream is still alive.”

In the last three years with Sanders at the helm, Jackson State amassed a 27-5 record, which included a pair of SWAC championships and a perfect 12-0 mark in 2022 going into the team game. Sanders, or “Coach Prime” as his players know him, brought instant success and relevance to a program that hadn’t enjoyed either much for the past decade.

“I felt like we did more than expected,” Sanders said. “We did it so quickly that it overwhelmed you and you thought it was easy. What would normally take someone several years, we did it in two and a half years.”

Sanders spoke to Sharpe about the challenges he faced while at Jackson State and what he anticipates moving to Colorado. That includes coaching his two sons: Shilo, a 6-foot, 195-pound defensive back who spent his first two seasons in South Carolina before moving to Jackson State, and Shedeur, a 6-year-old quarterback. 2-foot-2, 215 pounds who threw for 3,383 yards and 36 touchdowns in 2022 en route to being named SWAC Offensive Player of the Year.

[Prime Time in Pac-12: How Sanders will impact Colorado, conference, sport]

Both Silo and Shedeur entered the NCAA transfer portal on Saturday and are expected to join their father in Boulder, which Sanders alluded to during his introductory press conference earlier this month.

“He’s your quarterback,” Sanders told his new team, waving to Shedeur, while addressing them for the first time. “He’s going to have to earn it, though. Believe it.”

This insistence that players must win everything is at the forefront of Sanders’ recruiting philosophy. He described to Sharpe his pitches for recruiting 17- and 18-year-old prospects and why he was able to be so successful.

“I’m not going to give you anything and I’m not going to promise you anything,” Sanders said. “My thing is, you have to earn everything you get, and then you’re going to appreciate it more, want more, and understand what it takes.

“I’m not trying to win mum or dad. I’m going to be honest with mum and dad. We don’t make any promises. But my goal as a coach is to make sure that the boy you deliver to us becomes a man. .”

Check out the full episode of “Club Shay Shay” featuring Deion Sanders below:

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