Deion Sanders gives blunt assessment of Jackson State roster

Following his team’s 31-10 loss to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl, Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders delivered a harsh reality about his roster. Sanders didn’t mince words, saying the Tigers simply need more talent.

“We’ve got to get better players at certain positions,” he said. “We’ve got to get better at certain things that didn’t work well today. Our defense has never played like they did today. I don’t even know how many points they gave up. I forgot the score. Once it got past a certain point, I stopped looking. But we never do that. We can fix that with a personnel shift, and we’ve already started that process.”

Jackson State started the game with the first strike on a touchdown drive following a three-and-out by both teams. From there, the game was entirely in the Bulldogs’ control. They held the Tigers to just a field goal over the next three quarters and forced three turnovers as well.

Sanders’ program was riding high after finishing the season strong with a win over Prairie View A&M in the SWAC Championship. He was named FCS coach of the year as the Tigers finished the regular season 11-1.

Deion Sanders has already got a head start on adding some talent to the roster, signing 2022 athlete Travis Hunter. The Georgia native is the No. 1 overall player according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Additionally, Sanders convinced highly touted JUCO cornerback Keylon Kennedy to join the team next season.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, Sanders reached many milestones as a head coach in 2021. After leading the Tigers to a 4-3 finish last year in a pandemic-shortened season, he helped them see massive improvement.

When Sanders took over the Tigers program, the school had not had a winning season since 2013. Quickly after joining, he instituted a new mantra for the team. “I Believe” became the football program’s slogan and has now led them to a SWAC championship.

The Tigers set a school record for wins this season with 11. Their SWAC title is the school’s first since 2007.

“This is a team effort, it’s a valiant effort, it takes a lot, it does not just take me,” Sanders said. “I know it takes a visionary, but people have to really support the vision. And that’s what we did.”