A Deion Sanders interview for TCU’s football post would be a betrayal of his mission
TCU wants to have a coaching search full of diverse candidates, but that list should not include Deion Sanders.
As the school moves forward to find a coach to replace Gary Patterson, who continues to hang around the athletic department in a way that suggests maybe he doesn’t understand what “resigned” means, they are using a search firm to find candidates.
They have made “diversity” a priority, which is great. Again, as long as it does not include Deion Sanders.
According to sources, TCU’s interest in Deion is legit. Former TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson is now a member of the school’s board of trustees, and he worked with Sanders on The NFL Network.
Deion Sanders as TCU’s head coach would create attention, and in this era of The Transfer it might just work.
TCU may want talk to Deion, but Deion should not want to talk to TCU.
If Deion Sanders is who he says he is, he should recuse himself from the list of TCU candidates immediately.
What the former Dallas Cowboys and Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback is doing as the head coach at Jackson State is his most impressive accomplishment on any football field.
Deion Sanders is the first coach since Eddie Robinson at Grambling State to draw significant attention to an HBCU. Deion is making the type of tangible difference not many people in his position can make.
In September of 2020, Deion was hired by Jackson State to be the head coach of the SWAC school, which plays in the FCS level. Initially it all looked like a stunt.
If he so much as takes an interview with TCU it will be taken that Deion just used Jackson State to take care not of anyone else other than Deion.
On the day he was hired he said in a statement, “It’s my desire to continue this storied tradition and history of JSU and prayerfully bring more national recognition to the athletes, the university, the Sonic Boom of the South, and HBCUs in general.”
What Deion wants to do is help not just Jackson State but the entire Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) situation.
If you have ever walked the campuses of Alcorn State, Grambling, Jackson State or some of the other HBCUs, the disparity between those schools and the traditional state universities is evident.
Deion wants to bring more money, attention and resources to HBCUs.
The hope is that he could convince top high school or college Black student athletes to attend Jackson State, which in turn could help elevate the school, and the community.
In recent years there has been a push among some Black members of the media, notably former ESPN columnist and current Atlantic contributor Jemele Hill, that more Black student athletes should attend HBCUs.
That sort of participation could bring real change to HBCUs, and the Black community.
When five-star basketball player Makur Maker signed with Howard University in July of 2020, the hope was that he would inspire other highly-talented prospects to make similar choices rather than attend the typical names like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, etc.
(Maker played two games at Howard, because COVID essentially ended its season. He did not return to college, and is currently playing professionally in Australia.)
Sanders coaching Jackson State is part of this movement.
At least right now, it’s working. The Tigers are 7-1, and look like they will be selected for an FCS playoff spot. Jackson State’s homecoming game against Alabama State in October drew a record crowd of more than 53,000.
“I’ve been amongst my people all my life, but not amongst my people,” Sanders told The Clarion Ledger last month. “So, just seeing everything and being amongst my people, involved with my people, in the midst of my people, is totally different than when you’re on the field and you’re performing. I’m not performing anymore.
“I’m helping to build, to magnify, to construct, to enlarge, to improve everything that I’m doing amongst my people ... and I’m getting the opportunity to indulge in it.”
You can loathe Deion Sanders, but he didn’t need to go to Jackson State. He had a good life as a NFL TV analyst, with plenty of money.
He is actually contributing to something bigger than Deion Sanders Inc.
And if he so much as takes TCU’s phone call other than to say, “Thank you. I’m flattered, but I’m at Jackson State for a reason,” it will reveal all of this is just more Deion bull trash, and that there is no bigger football fraud than Prime Time.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
