Staff Directory
Sanders, Deion "Coach Prime"
Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders
- Title:
- Head Football Coach
Known as “Prime Time” during his Hall of Fame playing career, Deion Sanders has since transitioned into “Coach Prime,” and was named the 28th full-time head football coach at the University of Colorado on Dec. 3, 2022.
Entering his third season, Coach Prime orchestrated one of the quickest turnarounds in college football, taking over an 1-11 team in 2022, improving to 4-8 in his first season in 2023 and then leading the Buffs to a 9-4 record in 2024, including a 7-2 record in Big 12 play, tying for first place in the league standings and within a game of the Big 12 Championship game and shot at the College Football Playoffs.
Coach Prime’s arrival on campus immediately came with the Buffs being placed into the center of the college football world, and arguably the center of the sports world in September of his first season. Despite finishing 4-8 in his first season, Colorado was the most watched team in the nation until the final week of the regular season. CU was on network television a CU record five times and had eight games on either network TV or the flagship ESPN.
In year two of his tenure, CU shattered both of those records by appearing on network TV eight times, and for the first time appearing on each CBS and NBC and on the two partners with the Big 12, ABC and FOX, at least once throughout the season. Additionally, all 13 games were on either network TV or the flagship ESPN. CU was one of two teams in the regular season to draw 3.0 million or more viewers in 10 of the 12 regular season games and CU’s Alamo Bowl game against BYU drew a record 8 million viewers and was the most watched preseason game outside of the College Football Playoffs.
Named Sports Illustrated’s Person of the Year in 2023, he significantly upgraded the talent on CU’s roster. In three recruiting cycles, the Buffs have finished in the top 25 in all three of the overall rankings, signed at least one five-star recruit each season, doubling the total number of five-star recruits in the past 24 seasons.
Included in that first class he brought to Boulder were Travis Hunter, and Shedeur Sanders, who made their marks on the program to the point both of their jerseys, No. 12 for Hunter and No. 2 for Sanders, retired after the 2024 season. Hunter became the most decorated player in College Football history, earning the school’s second Heisman Trophy as well as being the consensus National Player of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year. Sanders broke more than 100 school records in just two seasons at the helm of the Buffs offense.
Coach Prime joined the Buffs from Jackson State University, where in three seasons the Tigers compiled a 27-6 record and won back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and Celebration Bowl appearances competing on the FCS level; that mark included a 12-1 record in 2022 when Jackson State defeated Southern, 43-24, in the SWAC title game but fell in overtime to N.C. Central, 41-34, in the Celebration Bowl.
At Jackson State, Sanders achieved tremendous success on and off the field as a fierce advocate for additional exposure and a level playing field for all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Sanders brought national attention to HBCUs, pushing for opportunities to highlight its talent and the culture. In March 2022, Sanders held a Pro Day featuring athletes from four other schools in the state of Mississippi to provide a platform in front of 22 NFL teams and the Canadian Football League. In April 2022, Jackson State became the first HBCU to have its spring football game televised live nationally on ESPNU.
Sanders was named the 21st head coach in Jackson State history on Sept. 21, 2020, but had to wait to coach his first game until COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and several FCS schools opted to play a delayed schedule in the spring. Exactly six months to the day later (Feb. 21, 2021), he led the Tigers to a 53-0 win over Edward Waters (Fla.) to begin the “Coach Prime Era.” It was considered the touch point of the elevation of JSU football and the University into becoming one of the most impactful and recognizable brands nationwide.
JSU was 4-3 in the pandemic-delayed 2020 season before rolling to an 11-2 record in 2021, winning the SWAC title with a 27-10 win over Prairie View A&M in the title game. The Tigers lost to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl; otherwise, their only other losses over his last 26 games was a 12-7 setback at FBS Louisiana-Monroe in Sept. ’21 and the 2022 Celebration Bowl.
Sanders was voted the SWAC’s Coach of the Year for a second straight season; 12 of his players earned some level of All-SWAC honors. For the 2021 campaign, he also garnered honors for the FCS Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, BOXTOTOW National Coach of the Year and Black College Hall of Fame Coach of the Year.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks at Jackson State, Sanders had been involved in coaching for over a decade. He was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School (Cedar Hill, Texas), leading the Tigers to three straight Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) titles and a 42-3 record.
A two-time unanimous first-team All-American at Florida State, he won the third annual Jim Thorpe Award in 1988, presented to the nation’s top defensive back. That same year, he finished eighth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
He finished his Seminole football career with 14 interceptions, three returned for touchdowns; those are still tied for third in the FSU record book. He owns the longest interception return in school history when he raced 100 yards for a TD against Tulsa as a freshman. Sanders also racked up a still-school record 1,429 punt return yards with three more scores. Playing for the late Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden, FSU was 36-9-1 in his four seasons as a Seminole, finishing as the nation’s No. 2 team as a junior in 1987 and No. 3 his senior season in 1988.
He also played one season of baseball for FSU (as a sophomore in 1987, batting .267 with three home runs, 21 runs batted in and 27 stolen bases) and ran sprints and relays in track (he was the 1988 Metro Conference outdoor champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes). He was inducted into Florida State’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the College Football Hall of Fame in its 2011 class.
Sanders is the only athlete ever to play in both a Super Bowl (twice) and the World Series.
He appeared in 188 regular season games (157 starts) in the National Football League with five teams: Atlanta (1989-93; the Falcons selected him as the fifth overall pick in the first round in the ’89 Draft), San Francisco (1994), Dallas (1995-99), Washington (2000) and Baltimore (2004-05). He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year for 1994, was named to its 1990s All-Decade Team and to the NFL’s All-Time Team in 2020, the latter as part of the league’s 100th season celebration.
“Prime Time” made 53 interceptions over the course of his career, with 512 tackles, 19 forced fumbles and 13 recoveries. He amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards, primarily through returns (2,199 punt, 3,523 kickoff). He also caught 60 passes for 784 yards and three touchdowns as in 1996, he became just one of two, two-way starters in the NFL since the platoon days of the 1950s. He set an NFL record with 19 career touchdowns on returns, nine coming via interception returns with six on punts, three on kickoffs and one fumble run back.
In Major League Baseball, he was drafted out of high school in the sixth round of the 1985 draft by the Kansas City Royals and then selected in the ‘88 draft by the New York Yankees.
Sanders played a total of 11 seasons in professional baseball, nine in the major leagues with the New York Yankees (1989-90), Atlanta (1991-94), Cincinnati (1994-95, 1997, 2001) and San Francisco (1995). In 641 major league games, he owned a career batting average of .263 with 39 home runs, 168 runs batted in and 186 stolen bases.
Entering his third season, Coach Prime orchestrated one of the quickest turnarounds in college football, taking over an 1-11 team in 2022, improving to 4-8 in his first season in 2023 and then leading the Buffs to a 9-4 record in 2024, including a 7-2 record in Big 12 play, tying for first place in the league standings and within a game of the Big 12 Championship game and shot at the College Football Playoffs.
Coach Prime’s arrival on campus immediately came with the Buffs being placed into the center of the college football world, and arguably the center of the sports world in September of his first season. Despite finishing 4-8 in his first season, Colorado was the most watched team in the nation until the final week of the regular season. CU was on network television a CU record five times and had eight games on either network TV or the flagship ESPN.
In year two of his tenure, CU shattered both of those records by appearing on network TV eight times, and for the first time appearing on each CBS and NBC and on the two partners with the Big 12, ABC and FOX, at least once throughout the season. Additionally, all 13 games were on either network TV or the flagship ESPN. CU was one of two teams in the regular season to draw 3.0 million or more viewers in 10 of the 12 regular season games and CU’s Alamo Bowl game against BYU drew a record 8 million viewers and was the most watched preseason game outside of the College Football Playoffs.
Named Sports Illustrated’s Person of the Year in 2023, he significantly upgraded the talent on CU’s roster. In three recruiting cycles, the Buffs have finished in the top 25 in all three of the overall rankings, signed at least one five-star recruit each season, doubling the total number of five-star recruits in the past 24 seasons.
Included in that first class he brought to Boulder were Travis Hunter, and Shedeur Sanders, who made their marks on the program to the point both of their jerseys, No. 12 for Hunter and No. 2 for Sanders, retired after the 2024 season. Hunter became the most decorated player in College Football history, earning the school’s second Heisman Trophy as well as being the consensus National Player of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year. Sanders broke more than 100 school records in just two seasons at the helm of the Buffs offense.
Coach Prime joined the Buffs from Jackson State University, where in three seasons the Tigers compiled a 27-6 record and won back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and Celebration Bowl appearances competing on the FCS level; that mark included a 12-1 record in 2022 when Jackson State defeated Southern, 43-24, in the SWAC title game but fell in overtime to N.C. Central, 41-34, in the Celebration Bowl.
At Jackson State, Sanders achieved tremendous success on and off the field as a fierce advocate for additional exposure and a level playing field for all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Sanders brought national attention to HBCUs, pushing for opportunities to highlight its talent and the culture. In March 2022, Sanders held a Pro Day featuring athletes from four other schools in the state of Mississippi to provide a platform in front of 22 NFL teams and the Canadian Football League. In April 2022, Jackson State became the first HBCU to have its spring football game televised live nationally on ESPNU.
Sanders was named the 21st head coach in Jackson State history on Sept. 21, 2020, but had to wait to coach his first game until COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and several FCS schools opted to play a delayed schedule in the spring. Exactly six months to the day later (Feb. 21, 2021), he led the Tigers to a 53-0 win over Edward Waters (Fla.) to begin the “Coach Prime Era.” It was considered the touch point of the elevation of JSU football and the University into becoming one of the most impactful and recognizable brands nationwide.
JSU was 4-3 in the pandemic-delayed 2020 season before rolling to an 11-2 record in 2021, winning the SWAC title with a 27-10 win over Prairie View A&M in the title game. The Tigers lost to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl; otherwise, their only other losses over his last 26 games was a 12-7 setback at FBS Louisiana-Monroe in Sept. ’21 and the 2022 Celebration Bowl.
Sanders was voted the SWAC’s Coach of the Year for a second straight season; 12 of his players earned some level of All-SWAC honors. For the 2021 campaign, he also garnered honors for the FCS Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, BOXTOTOW National Coach of the Year and Black College Hall of Fame Coach of the Year.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks at Jackson State, Sanders had been involved in coaching for over a decade. He was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School (Cedar Hill, Texas), leading the Tigers to three straight Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) titles and a 42-3 record.
A two-time unanimous first-team All-American at Florida State, he won the third annual Jim Thorpe Award in 1988, presented to the nation’s top defensive back. That same year, he finished eighth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
He finished his Seminole football career with 14 interceptions, three returned for touchdowns; those are still tied for third in the FSU record book. He owns the longest interception return in school history when he raced 100 yards for a TD against Tulsa as a freshman. Sanders also racked up a still-school record 1,429 punt return yards with three more scores. Playing for the late Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden, FSU was 36-9-1 in his four seasons as a Seminole, finishing as the nation’s No. 2 team as a junior in 1987 and No. 3 his senior season in 1988.
He also played one season of baseball for FSU (as a sophomore in 1987, batting .267 with three home runs, 21 runs batted in and 27 stolen bases) and ran sprints and relays in track (he was the 1988 Metro Conference outdoor champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes). He was inducted into Florida State’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the College Football Hall of Fame in its 2011 class.
Sanders is the only athlete ever to play in both a Super Bowl (twice) and the World Series.
He appeared in 188 regular season games (157 starts) in the National Football League with five teams: Atlanta (1989-93; the Falcons selected him as the fifth overall pick in the first round in the ’89 Draft), San Francisco (1994), Dallas (1995-99), Washington (2000) and Baltimore (2004-05). He was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year for 1994, was named to its 1990s All-Decade Team and to the NFL’s All-Time Team in 2020, the latter as part of the league’s 100th season celebration.
“Prime Time” made 53 interceptions over the course of his career, with 512 tackles, 19 forced fumbles and 13 recoveries. He amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards, primarily through returns (2,199 punt, 3,523 kickoff). He also caught 60 passes for 784 yards and three touchdowns as in 1996, he became just one of two, two-way starters in the NFL since the platoon days of the 1950s. He set an NFL record with 19 career touchdowns on returns, nine coming via interception returns with six on punts, three on kickoffs and one fumble run back.
In Major League Baseball, he was drafted out of high school in the sixth round of the 1985 draft by the Kansas City Royals and then selected in the ‘88 draft by the New York Yankees.
Sanders played a total of 11 seasons in professional baseball, nine in the major leagues with the New York Yankees (1989-90), Atlanta (1991-94), Cincinnati (1994-95, 1997, 2001) and San Francisco (1995). In 641 major league games, he owned a career batting average of .263 with 39 home runs, 168 runs batted in and 186 stolen bases.
Mark Johnson & Gary Barnett break down the win vs Delaware | The Buffalo Stampede: Colorado Football
Sunday, September 07
Colorado Football Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, September 06
Colorado Football Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, September 06
This Week in Colorado Soccer: Headed to Wisconsin
Thursday, September 04
