Opinion: Of course Deion Sanders is the star of the Celebration Bowl for Jackson State
ATLANTA — Deion Sanders, check that, "Coach Prime" was surely in a familiar element as he met with the media in advance of the Cricket Celebration Bowl on tap for Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Sanders was back in the "ATL" where he launched his amazing NFL career (he scored a touchdown the first time he touched the football with the Atlanta Falcons) and doubled as a major leaguer with the Atlanta Braves. But this was different.
He’s head coach at Jackson State now, landing back here with an 11-1 team that won the SWAC title and can claim the Black College Football Championship by defeating MEAC champ South Carolina State.
"To be coaching in a game of this magnitude, that’s a whole 'nother deal," said the legend who during the 1990s played in a World Series and won Super Bowls in back-to-back seasons with different teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.
"The thing that bothers me is that I can’t play," Sanders added. "I’m ready to play, but I can’t."
RECRUITING COUP: Sander lures nation's top prospect to Jackson State
WOLKEN: Sanders uses signing day to prove he's ready to coach in prime time
It was still evident as Sanders, who recently had foot surgery and used a scooter to roll up to the podium on Friday, that nobody can do hype quite like "Neon Deon."
I mean, in one 15-miniute press conference, he went with three different arrangements. He started the session with his head covered in a hoodie as he wore big, dark sunglasses, reminiscent of his Super Bowl XXIX style. Then he shed the glasses and kept on the hoodie. Then he lowered the hood to reveal a red ski hat emblazoned with a blue "J."
Yet for all of his panache, there’s always been so much substance with Sanders.
Buddy Pough knows. The South Carolina State coach, who's been on the job at his alma mater for 20 years and as an offensive lineman during the 1970s played with eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers Harry Carson and Donnie Shell, was genuinely effusive in praising the coach who will be on the other sideline.
South Carolina State, for all of the resilience that Pough’s team has demonstrated after starting the season 0-3, is the overshadowed underdog in so many ways on this stage that includes a sellout for the first time in the six-year history of the game.
"We know they’ve got Deion," Pough said. "I was a fan, when he was playing for everybody."
Pough then gave everybody a dose of his good humor as he waxed on about Sanders.
"He was playing football, basketball, baseball and track, golf and all that stuff at the same time," Pough said. "The guy is probably the top all-around athlete of our generation. The guy has been fantastic."
Still.
"He’s come in and made the coaching game look easy," Pough added. "He’s been here one year and won all the top awards. I’ve been coaching 45 years and haven’t won some of the accolades that he’s had. So, it’s been a fun run to see him rise to the top. He’s doing something for us all."
Sanders has raised the profile of the entire universe of HBCU football, commanding a spotlight similar to what he attracted as a player. Pough hardly sounds like a man who begrudges that.
Yet it’s also true that Sanders — who coached on the high school level and developed his own youth football league in the Dallas area years before ditching his high-profile gig with the NFL Network to take on college coaching — wouldn’t be in the first game of the college bowl season if he didn’t produce a worthy product on the field.
The Tigers are riding a nine-game winning streak, with Sanders' offense quarterbacked by his son, Shedeur Sanders. The defense, coordinated by former NFL defensive back and coach Dennis Thurman, is vastly improved since the abbreviated spring season of early 2021 and by some measures, including 52 sacks, the best of any FBS program.
And Sanders is hardly done yet. Earlier this week, Sanders pulled off a major coup for Jackson State — and HBCU football overall — by luring the nation’s top defensive back recruit, Travis Hunter, who previously was thought to be headed to Florida State, which ironically, is Coach Prime’s alma mater.
Never mind the facilities and exposure attached to a Power 5 program. Hunter’s decision adds a layer to the debate of whether HBCU schools can attract the most talented recruits.
Score a big one for Sanders, who has preached since his arrival at JSU more than a year ago that he believed the HBCU programs could become a legitimate option for top talent.
"I’m pretty certain that this is why I’m here, this is why God led me to Jackson State University, the HBCUs, the SWAC," Sanders said. "I tried to tell you. You thought I was just running at the mouth. But I truly believed."
Of course, nobody can impact such a perceived movement like Sanders.
"Everything I’ve done in my life, I’ve provoked change," he said. "Why not now?"
As Sanders is poised to possibly win a Black College championship, there’s no need to doubt him and his vision.
Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.