Shaquille O’Neal compares coach Deion Sanders to Phil Jackson
The college football world has been taken by storm ever since Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders became the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder just prior to this season. Last year, the Buffaloes were a dismal 1-11, but so far this year, they have gone 3-0.
Back in the day, Sanders was known for his outsized personality when he helped the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl championships. Now, that colorful personality is gracing the sideline for the Buffaloes, and fans cannot get enough of it.
It has reminded Los Angeles Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal of his old head coach, Phil Jackson. At first, it sounds like a very outlandish comparison, especially given that Jackson won 11 NBA championships and had an otherworldly Zen cool about him.
However, when one looks closer at the comparison the legendary center made, it makes more sense.
O’Neal referred to Sanders’ demeanor when the Buffaloes were down big to rival Colorado State University in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
Via TMZ Sports:
“When they were down 15, there was a camera that panned to Deion’s face, and it reminded me of Phil Jackson. And I’ve always said, if the general doesn’t panic, the troops don’t panic,” O’Neal said on the TMZ Sports TV show.
“… I know exactly what the [Colorado players] are going through because when you are standing in front of someone that has an impressive resume, and you’re trying to get to the level he get to, everything you say is golden. I felt that way when Phil Jackson first came to the Lakers,” the NBA legend explained.
“Before [Phil] got there, me and Kobe [Bryant], we got swept all the time. But when he came there and stepped in the locker room and we saw he didn’t panic, so it taught us not to panic. We know that this guy knows what he’s talking about.”
Before Jackson arrived in Los Angeles in 1999, the Lakers had gotten swept in back-to-back postseasons and had a maddening habit of folding like a plastic chair as soon as opponents applied pressure to them in big games. But Jackson’s psychological training and power, along with his famed triangle offense and insistence on winning with defense, instantly resulted in three straight world titles.
