Colorado has found its next head coach. It also appears the Buffaloes have their next starting quarterback.
Deion Sanders was introduced as Colorado’s head coach on Sunday, and during his speech, he introduced the crowd to his son, Shedeur Sanders, as “your quarterback.”
“He’s going to have to earn it, though, believe that,” Sanders clarified.
MORE: Why Deion Sanders is going to Colorado
Shedeur Sanders, the current quarterback at Jackson State, has long been expected to follow his father to Colorado. The sophomore quarterback has completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 3,383 yards with 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions this season. He has also rushed 76 times for 174 yards and five more touchdowns.
In 2022, the Buffaloes had two quarterbacks attempt at least 50 passes. Sophomore J.T. Shrout completed 44.3 percent of his passes for 1,220 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. Freshman Owen McCown completed 57 percent of his passes for 600 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
While Sanders is set to become the next head coach at Colorado next season, he isn’t quite done at Jackson State just yet, where he has gone 27-5 overall and 12-0 in 2022. Sanders confirmed he would be returning to Jackson State to finish out the season, with the Tigers lined up to face North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17.
“As you know I have work to finish in Jackson, Mississippi,” Sanders said. “They tell me we ‘and-0,’ that means we haven’t lost to anybody. And we’ve got to win this championship. But simultaneously like I played baseball and football, I can multi-task and I can focus.”
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The hype surrounding Sanders has built after he turned around the SWAC program, attracting several of the best recruits in the nation and leading the team to the top of the conference.
Sanders said he is going to make it his goal to bring Colorado to the elite level and have the Buffaloes competing among the best teams in the country. He said while they’re doing that, his players are going to get their education, will graduation and they will be respectful.
“These young men are going to be on campus respectful and considerate and kind, opening doors for you and making sure everything is copacetic. And they’re going to say, ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘No, sir,’ ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘No, ma’am,’ or they’re going to have to deal with me,” Sanders said. “That’s just the way I fathered, that’s the way I parent, that’s the way I coach. I’m old school. Sometimes I may look like an old fool, but I’m just old school.”
MORE: Inside the details of Deion Sanders’ new Colorado contract
When speaking with the team, Sanders said his decision wasn’t “about a bag. I’ve got that.” He said it was about the “opportunity to accomplish something that hadn’t been done in quite some time.”
And among a number of changes, he mentioned that there will be positions that are going to see some turnover.
“We’ve got a few positions already taken care of because I’m bringing my luggage with me,” Sanders told the players. “I’m coming. It ain’t going to be no more of the mess that these wonderful fans, the student body and some of your parents have put up with for probably two decades now. I’m coming. And when I get here, there’s going to be change.”
Deion Sanders meets & talks to his Colorado football team for the first time pic.twitter.com/fMpFMwDXfN
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) December 4, 2022
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