College Football

Deion Sanders named Colorado's new head football coach

Updated Dec. 3, 2022 10:51 p.m. ET

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Deion Sanders is taking over as head coach at Colorado, bringing his charisma and larger-than-life persona to a beleaguered Pac-12 program that’s plunged to the bottom of college football.

The deal was announced Saturday night by Colorado athletic director Rick George.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer has been at Jackson State, a historically Black college that plays in the NCAA’s second tier of Division I, since 2020 — guiding the Tigers to consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.

The Tigers beat Southern in the SWAC Championship Game on Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi, and a few hours later Colorado announced he was coming to Boulder.

[Related: What Deion Sanders hire means for Colorado, Pac-12 and football]

The Tigers went 27-5 in the Sanders era and he was named SWAC coach of the year the last two seasons.

Known as "Prime Time" during his high-stepping, playmaking NFL career, the 55-year-old Sanders prefers "Coach Prime" these days. Colorado will prove a challenge for the magnetic Sanders, who inherits a program coming off a 1-11 season. But he brings instant name recognition and a track record of being able to recruit top-level talent.

The Buffaloes have turned in just one full-length winning season since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. They dismissed Karl Dorrell in October, and interim coach Mike Sanford finished out the season that culminated with a 63-21 blowout loss to No. 12 Utah at home.

Colorado is a long way from its glory days under Hall of Fame coach Bill McCartney, who led the Buffaloes to a national championship following the 1990 season.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Read more:

• What Deion Sanders hire means for Colorado, Pac-12, football
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• USC's CFP hopes dashed after thrashing in Pac-12 title game
• College football transfer portal tracker: Notable names on the move
• Harbaugh recruits or fit and development, not star rating
• Michigan, USC, TCU carve very different paths to success

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