As someone who has authored two program turnarounds at two different schools in two different levels of college football, Deion Sanders has, understandably, come onto the radar of NFL executives when it comes to potential NFL head coach openings. However, Coach Prime has been steadfast in committing to not only his Colorado Buffaloes but also college football in general as opposed to going to the pros.
However, there apparently is one caveat that could make Sanders reconsider his commitment to the college game and, at least, consider jumping to the NFL coaching ranks. It isn’t a particular team, owner, or current player that could draw him to an NFL sideline, but Sanders revealed the circumstances that would have him listening to NFL teams.
“The only way I would consider is that I’m coaching my sons, plural. Not singularly, plural,” Sanders said on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast. “Or I wouldn’t even think about it because I love Colorado. I love everything I do.
“I would have to think about it if I get to coach both of them.”
Coach Prime has two sons who recently wrapped up their college football careers, both ending under him at Colorado. The more famous is quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is expected to be one of the first picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, if not the top overall selection. Shedeur’s older brother is safety, Shilo Sanders, who just finished his sixth season of college football. He had two years at South Carolina, followed by two under Coach Prime at Jackson State, and then transferred, along with Shedeur, to Colorado, where he’s spent the last two seasons. Shilo is projected as a late-round pick, if he’s drafted, as some projections have him going undrafted.
While the allure of coaching two of your sons in the NFL may be too tempting to pass up on, Coach Prime admitted the logistics of it happening simply don’t work.
“I’m not following them [to the NFL], and it couldn’t be like that because I’m there prior. But if I’m there prior, how can that happen? So, it couldn’t really ever happen. But you’ve got to think about it, logically, as a father,” said Sanders.
If Sanders were to somehow coach his sons in the NFL, then it would be the fourth stop that Shedeur and Shilo will get to call their dad, Coach. Prior to Colorado, and prior to two years at Jackson State, Deion Sanders also coached his sons when they were at Trinity Christian, a private high school in the Dallas area.
With the Buffs, Sanders took a team that had the worst record in all of FBS in 2022 (1–11) and then quadrupled their win total in his first year with the program in 2023. He then went 9–4 this past season, which is Colorado’s most wins in a single season since 2016. The Buffs had an appearance in the Alamo Bowl, and two-way star, Travis Hunter, became Colorado’s second Heisman winner under Sanders, while Shedeur Sanders led all of college football in completion percentage.
Prior to heading West, Coach Prime’s first coaching job at the college level was at Jackson State, an HBCU in Mississippi. The Tigers had six straight seasons without a winning record before Sanders’ arrival in 2020, and he proceeded to go 4–3 in a pandemic-shortened season.
The next year, both Shedeur and Shilo joined JSU, and the team went 11–2, winning both the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) East Division and the conference championship. Then in the Sanders’ final year at Jackson State in 2022, in which Hunter joined the team as a freshman, they repeated as division and conference champions but ran the table in the regular season, going 12–0, before losing in its bowl game.
During his final two years at Jackson State, Deion Sanders was named SWAC Coach of the Year in both seasons and was awarded the Eddie Robinson Award in 2021, which is bestowed to the top head coach at the FCS level.
Assuming that Sanders doesn’t find that ideal NFL job where he can coach both Shedeur and Shilo, he’ll return to a Colorado program that is expected to contend if not win the Big 12 next year. Even with Shedeur Sanders and Hunter off to the NFL, the Buffs have reloaded and have the top-ranked incoming class, amongst Big 12 teams.
