Deion Sanders will be the next head football coach at Jackson State, he announced on his new podcast, 21st & Prime, on Sunday.
“God called me to Jackson State,” Sanders said on the first episode of the podcast, according to a transcription by the Clarion Ledger.
Sanders, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame following a stellar NFL career during which he also played Major League Baseball, is a first-time head coach at the collegiate level.
“It’s very big for Jackson State University,” athletic director Ashley Robinson said, according to the Clarion Ledger’s transcription. “Not only for Jackson State University, this is very big for the country right now. Very big for the state of Mississippi. To Coach Prime, Jackson State University — a blue blood program full of Hall of Famers — it’s just a great time.”
Currently serving as the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian in Cedar Hill, Texas, Sanders will finish out the season there before beginning preparations for Jackson State’s season, which has been pushed to the spring by the coronavirus pandemic.
Thomas Hudson, Jackson State’s acting president, said on the podcast that the move was a result of the “grace of God” and the history of Jackson State football, according to the Clarion Ledger.
Sanders backed Hudson’s comments on the podcast when asked why he was taking the job.
“Why not? Isn’t this the time?” said Sanders, who starred as a defensive back in the NFL. “Isn’t this the moment? Isn’t this what’s needed? To match what our president eloquently said, it’s a match made in heaven. This is a God move.”
Sanders replaces John Hendrick, who went 6-9 overall and 5-5 in the SWAC East. Jackson State’s last winning season came in 2013.
While Hudson and Robinson appeared on Sanders’ podcast, the school has yet to officially announce his hiring, saying it will have an announcement about the program on Monday.
