Many college football fans wanted their team to hire Deion Sanders as head coach.
Few spoke out louder than Charles Barkley. The former NBA star and Auburn alum lobbied hard to have Sanders hired as Auburn’s head coach before the Tigers hired Hugh Freeze in November 2022.
“I made it publicly and privately known that I wanted Deion. That’s all I could do. I really wanted Deion at Auburn,” Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show.
Barkley says Sanders has that “It” factor that reminds him of a legendary coach.
“He has the ‘It’ factor,” Barkley explained. “He reminds me a lot of Nick Saban, and I think Nick Saban’s the greatest coach ever. He’s not afraid to hire great assistants. You look at Deion’s staff, and I think everyone either played or was a head coach somewhere. I think what separates Saban.”
“I think wherever he goes he’s gonna be successful. He’s just that great of a coach and a person,” he added.
Barkley said he likes Freeze and supports him 100 percent.
“You know what, I have to be careful with that Dan, we hired Hugh Freeze and I’m all in on Coach Freeze, but I really want Deion at Auburn. We’ve got Coach Freeze now and I’ve got to support him 100 percent,” Barkley said.
Every college football expert thinks that Sanders’s next move could be to a college football blue blood.
