Opinion: It's time to take Deion Sanders seriously as a coach and not just a showman

MEMPHIS — The barbeque at the tailgates had been cooked, the bands had boomed at halftime, and a Memphis rapper named Duke Deuce had shown up to sing along, when Jackson State demonstrated the possibilities that exist with Deion Sanders as coach.

Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw the ball on a dime as wide receiver Keith Corbin broke open across the middle of the field, then broke a tackle and raced 67 yards down the field for a touchdown. The son of Sanders throwing to a University of Houston transfer, both of whom arrived on campus as part of a 2021 recruiting class that ranked No. 55 in the nation.

Not No. 55 in the Football Championship Subdivision. No. 55 in all of Division I. Ahead of Power Five conference schools like Kansas State, Duke, Iowa State, Syracuse, Colorado and Wake Forest.

It’s the moment Jackson State’s talent began to overwhelm Tennessee State in Saturday’s 38-16 win at the 32nd Southern Heritage Classic in front of a lively crowd of 46,171 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

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It’s the sort of moment that makes Sanders such an intriguing figure in Memphis and in college football moving forward. A moment that forces you to see him as more than just a celebrity hire with years of experience using a microphone to his advantage.

Sanders is bringing in talent Jackson State never could get before. Players originally recruited by Southern Cal, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Auburn, Missouri, South Carolina, Louisville and UCF, among others.

He’s leveraging the NCAA’s transfer portal, his dynamic personality and his legacy as one of the NFL’s greatest players to transform the way HBCU football conducts its business. He could be creating a program that transcends what we expect from this level of the sport.

“When you compare us to a regular SWAC team … we didn’t come here because we had to,” is how Shedeur Sanders put it at SWAC media day in July, a statement that served as a reminder that bravado doesn’t fall far from the tree. “We came here because we chose to. It’s a difference.”

The bark is starting to pack some bite, too.

Sanders and company beat Florida A&M, the team picked directly ahead of them in the SWAC preseason poll, last week. They followed it up with Saturday’s dismantling of Tennessee State and new coach Eddie George, who are hoping to use a similar template as Jackson State to elevate their football program.

The younger Sanders might be the key to it all.

He set a Southern Heritage Classic record for completions (30) and completion percentage (75%) and finished with the third-most yards (362) and three touchdown passes. Like many on the Jackson State sideline, he eschewed more prominent scholarship offers to play for his father.

Does he have a chance to follow in the footsteps of Steve McNair at Alcorn State?

It’s too early to tell, just as it’s too early to determine if Sanders can actually coach. But the platform is there because of Sanders.

If Sanders is as good tactically as he is as a promoter – and the way he quickly established a formula for roster-building suggests he’s at least competent – this operation is primed to be a juggernaut in no time.

“They had athletes all over the field,” George marveled in his postgame news conference. “When you have a quarterback like that … you can go a long way.”

And when there’s a coach who brings the spotlight with him like Sanders does, nothing about this will go under the radar.

How else to explain the Southern Heritage Classic being featured on ESPN’s First Take and College Gameday on Friday and Saturday morning, respectively? Just in the past week, Sanders has drawn attention to HBCUs not receiving a spot on the ESPN score ticker and the lack of last names on the backs of jerseys around the country.

“This is a choice I made,” Sanders said. “I love it 100 percent. It’s not a job. This is a lifestyle. This is who I am. This is what I do. This is a calling from God that I had to answer. God called me collect and I had to accept the charges.”

It sometimes comes off as more show than substance, a reflex of having watched Sanders and his colorful persona for decades. But there’s an underlying message of feeling disrespected behind everything he says.

On behalf of HBCUs and, frankly, on behalf of himself.

When Sanders reportedly interviewed for jobs at Florida State and Arkansas before taking the Jackson State job, it was viewed more as a publicity stunt than a potential hire.

But the more he talks, the more his vision comes to life at Jackson State, the more all this talent he brought in starts to surface in games, the more obvious it becomes.

It’s time to take Coach Prime seriously.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Deion Sanders should be taken seriously as Jackson State coach