Deion sanders Dec 17, 2022; Atlanta, GA, USA; Jackson State Tigers head coach Deion Sanders on the sidelines during the game against the North Carolina Central Eagles during the first half of the Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday marked the last day that Deion Sanders is the head coach of the Jackson State Tigers as he was named the new coach of the Colorado Buffalos a few weeks back.

The undefeated Tigers played in the Celebration Bowl against North Carolina Central on Saturday. But before the game, Sanders gave an emotional speech for one final time.

Sanders got teary as he talked to his team for the last time before the game kicked off. The Tigers seemed emotional too as they followed their head coach onto the field for the last time.

“We’ve done it together, let’s say it together when I say now, all of you say give me my theme music,” Sanders said.

 

Quite a few of Sanders’s JSU players will be following him to Boulder, including his son Shedeur, who is the starting quarterback for the team. No. 1 recruit Travis Hunter announced earlier Saturday that he too would be following his head coach.

Despite his success at JSU, the disappointment still lingers for a lot of Jackson State alums and HBCU fans who felt betrayed by Sanders abandoning the program for an FBS school.

With Sanders moving on and taking some of JSU’s best players, where does the program go from here? Sanders’s legacy there may be defined by what happens after he leaves.

{Andscape}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.