Report: Deion Sanders preparing to take Colorado job following season

It appears Deion Sanders is gearing up to become the next head coach at Colorado. The two-sport icon and Jackson State head coach is taking some drastic steps toward making that a reality, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported.

Sanders is recruiting on-field staff, support staff and players from the transfer portal to join him with the Buffalos, Thamel tweeted. The news comes one day before Jackson State is set to play in the SWAC Championship against Southern — and Thamel said Sanders’ exit would likely come after that game.

Sanders talked to a highly touted transfer and told him to hold off on a decision until he was able to recruit him to Colorado, Thamel reported. On Colorado’s campus, preparations are being made for the hire even though staff members haven’t been told about a decision.

“They’re not doing a great job of hiding this,” a source told Thamel. “If he backs out of this deal, it would be a huge problem for Colorado.”

Sanders hasn’t been shy about his interest in the Colorado job or the Buffaloes’ interest in him. He confirmed an offer was on the table this week, but didn’t specifically say what his next steps would be as he prepared for the conference championship.

Jackson State has had an impressive three seasons under Sanders, totaling a 26-5 record during that time, including a perfect 11-0 mark this year heading into the SWAC title game. He also had the biggest recruiting victory of the 2022 cycle when he got Travis Hunter — who, at the time, was the No. 1 recruit in the country — to flip his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State.

News of Colorado’s offer to Sanders broke last Saturday on FOX “Big Noon Kickoff” when Bruce Feldman revealed the news and addressed the Buffaloes’ interest in Primetime.

“Colorado, where they’re desperate to pump some life into this program, CU has offered Deion Sanders from Jackson State the job,” Feldman said. “I’m told he has legit interest in becoming the Buff’s head coach. He’s 22-2 the last two years, but he hasn’t really gotten much buy-in from Power 5 jobs with vacancies.

“I’m told, if he can go there, and there’s people at CU that are optimistic, he would make this program nationally relevant in a long, long time.”

Colorado fired Karl Dorrell in September after an 0-3 start to the season. The Buffaloes finished the year 1-11, only defeating Cal 20-13.

Jackson State and Southern kick off Saturday at 4 p.m. ET in the SWAC Championship.