Saturday at 4 pm coach Deion Sanders will lead his undefeated 11-0 Jackson State team against Southern in the 2022 Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Championship Game with the winner going to Atlanta on Dec. 17th for the Celebration Bowl. Then Sunday multiple reports have him deciding if he will stay at Jackson State or move on to Cincinnati, Colorado, or the University of University of South Florida.
Sunday is important because on Monday Dec. 5th the first day of the 45-day college football Transfer Portal begins and that is going to be a key time for all of the schools who need a head coach in place. So, if Sanders is staying at Jackson State or making a move it is important say something.
As of this moment, only Colorado has confirmed that they have made coach Sanders an offer, both Cincinnati AD John Cunningham and USF AD Mike Kelly have stayed quiet on the subject noting that their coaching search process continues. USF has been linked to Coach Prime since the beginning of its search to replace Jeff Scott, meanwhile, Cincinnati’s sudden entrance in the Sanders sweepstakes seems to have come out nowhere as they seek to replace Luke Fickell.
So, as a proud USF alum and someone who as a producer and director of sports for over 40 years, I have had the pleasure of doing games where Sanders has played both in college as well as the pros, I would like to give my pitch why coming to USF would be a good match for him and of course USF. I have listed 10 but there could have been a hundred reasons why coming to USF is the best choice Coach Sanders including a chance to land in a Power 5 conference in the next round of expansion.
- You would become the highest-profile coach in the state of Florida the moment you signed with USF. You would bring the combination of coaching passion and star power that Billy Napier at Florida, Mike Norvell, at Florida State, Central Florida’s Gus Malzahn, and Miami’s Mario Manuel Cristobal can’t match.
- There is not one high school in Florida where you could not go and have your pick of recruits.
- Every USF football game would become a primetime event for ESPN including a visit from Game Day.
- You could use the transfer portal and your recruiting skill to make USF a winner in the way Lincoln Riley has taken USC from 4-8 to 11-1 and a spot in the Pac 12 Championship Game with a possible place in the CFP Final Four.
- Making USF a winner with the expanded CFP Playoffs you could become perennial power.
- USF would build that on-campus stadium for you on time within five years, meanwhile, you would fill Raymond James
- You would become a bigger story in the Tampa Bay Area than Tom Brady.
- You would be in the 11th largest media market which could command sports coverage.
- Fishing is outstanding in both freshwater and saltwater so part of the deal could be a boat for that other passion you have.
- Most importantly we need YOU more than Colorado or Cincinnati.
At the end of the day whoever is lucky enough to land Coach Sanders is going to get an outstanding football with the chart media skills. I know that leaving Jackson State would be hard for him because of the revival of the HBCU football, something he has been an important part of but should Coach Sanders make the move to USF he will know it is a place that really needs his mad skills.
