July 21, 2022; Birmingham, AL, USA; Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders is on the main stage during the Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day at the Sheraton Birmingham. Gary Cosby Jr.-The Tuscaloosa News Swac Media Day

Even before he became the head coach of the Jackson State Tigers, Deion Sanders was making a name for himself in high school football and became a hot name for different job openings within the Power 5. One of those jobs Sanders almost landed was the Arkansas job.

Even though Sanders didn’t get the job, it doesn’t mean he didn’t leave an impression on the school.

“I was blown away,” Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek told the Associated Press. “He was very well prepared. He had done research on our program. He had done research on recruits. He could talk about the SEC.”

The only reason Sanders didn’t get the job was a lack of experience. He had never coached at the college level before.

Sanders said he knocked all of his interviews out of the park “Killed it. Nailed all the interviews,” he said.

Since being at Jackson State, Sanders has not only proven himself to be a winner but a great recruiter as well. He landed the No. 1 recruit in the country last year in Travis Hunter, which caught everyone off guard.

Many football experts see Sanders leaving JSU in the future and eventually landing at a Power 5 school, maybe even at his alma mater, Florida State.

[Associated Press]

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.