College GameDay at Jackson State this weekend not only has placed a concentrated focus on the football program but on head coach Deion Sanders’ future.
For more than a year, Sanders’ name has popped up in conversations regarding FBS openings with the success he’s experienced in transforming JSU into an FCS power and mainstream brand.
So, it was ESPN’s turn to once again to speculate whether Sanders would actually consider a Power Five job if offered.
ESPN college football analyst and one-time Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard asked the JSU coach just that during an interview that appeared on First Take Friday morning.
“I would entertain. I have to,” Sanders told Howard. “Going to the Power Five doesn’t change my lifestyle but guess what … it changes my coaches.”
For the moment, however, Sanders explained that his goal is to complete the mission he started two years ago when accepted the JSU job — to raise the level of the football program and make an impact beyond the game.
“I’m a moment kind of guy. I’m going to dominate this moment,” he said. “Deion will move on to the next moment but right now, I’m going to dominate this thing.”
Howard was then asked by the First Take crew whether Sanders should listen to FBS overtures if there was interest in his services.
“He would be foolish not to entertain it because of who he is and what he brings to the table,” said Howard. “If you go for the bag, you go for the NFL. But if you’re really going for what his mission is to continue to help these young men, not only dominate football games, but he wants to teach them how to dominate life that’s when you answer the Power 5 call because that’s going to give you that opportunity.”
Stephen A. Smith agreed with Howard’s assessment and offered this to one school in particular that did decide to pass on Coach Prime:
“Florida State looks like absolute fools for passing up on hiring him,” he said. “They should have hired him. Florida State might have been better off.”
