Bruce Feldman: Auburn, Georgia Tech could target Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders continues to be the coaching hottest name for a Power Five job in the nation. With Georgia Tech‘s firing of former headman Geoff Collins and Auburn‘s uneasiness with Bryan Harsin as head coach, both are teams that could have an eye for Sanders’ services next season.

“He is 19-5 at a program at Jackson State that hadn’t had a winning season in eight years prior to his arrival,” Fox Sports Bruce Feldman said on Big Noon Kickoff. “Just how committed to football is Georgia Tech? I think the thing that’s really going to be interesting a little bit down the road, Bryan Harsin is on the hottest seat in the country at Auburn and I’m hearing Auburn may target Deion Sanders. You’re talking about a guy who’s in all these commercials with Nick Saban that you’re seeing every week.”

Sanders ability to recruit highly ranked players, despite not hold a Division I coaching job, is a scary notion for recruiting competitions across the country. If Sanders’ recruiting prowess isn’t enough, adding a Power Five brand behind him would only make his pitch more attractive.

“You’re talking about a guy who showed his recruiting prowess last year by beating everybody —everybody, including Nick Saban — for the No. 1 recruit in the country in Travis Hunter to get him to go to an FCS program,” Feldman said. “And as one coach told me this week, ‘Good luck to the guy who has to do the in-home recruiting visit before or after Deion Sanders.'”

Why Deion Sanders should be a legit Power 5 head coaching candidate at Georgia Tech, Arizona State and eventually Auburn

Primetime in the Desert. Primetime in the Magic City. Primetime on the Plains. Deion Sanders is and should be a legitimate head coaching candidate in the 2022 cycle. 

Arizona State is already open, and now so is Georgia Tech. Bryan Harsin’s days are numbered at Auburn, which means Sanders could be pursued by as many as three programs this fall. 

Good. Let’s see what happens. 

To some, hearing Deion Sanders, 55, linked to major college football seems like a stretch. He’s only been a head coach at Jackson State for three years, going 19-5 — including 15-2 in his last 16 games. 

But Sanders has transformed a wayward program into an FCS power. He won the SWAC in 2021 and is sitting undefeated through four games in 2022. By embracing Sanders’ flash, fun and bravado, the Tigers are blasting teams with a winning margin of 38 points this September. 

It certainly helps to have better players, but that’s part of Sanders’ strengthening resume, too. He’s recruited a roster that doesn’t look like an FCS team. Just last year, he engineered the biggest signing day stunner in recruiting history when cornerback Travis Hunter, the No. 1 overall prospect from the 2022 class, flipped his commitment from Sanders’ alma mater Florida State to the HBCU program. 

Sanders beat out FSU, Alabama and Georgia for Hunter, who was the first-ever 5-star recruit to sign with an FCS program out of high school. By going head-to-head with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, Sanders did something that Bryan Harsin hasn’t pulled off in nearly two years at Auburn. Sanders signed a Top 25 recruiting class at JSU!

Let’s find out what Deion Sanders can do at a program with more resources and more primetime pressure.