Deion Sanders has a problem at Jackson State — and he thinks it’s a good one. He’s only determined who two of his starters will be for the upcoming Fall 2021 season.
The Tigers landed the highest-ranked football recruit class to sign with an HBCU, bringing in top-ranked players such as De’Jahn Warren and transfers Abdul-Malik McClain, Isaiah Bolden, Javorrius Selmon, and Aubrey Miller, Jr. All were consensus four-star recruits out of high school, and none of them have earned starting roles — yet.
Coach Sanders recently spoke to Neely of Thee Pregame Show on the issue. See part one of the interview here:
A Competitive Process
“What’s happening is competition,” Sanders said. “We have a thought process of who is going to start but we don’t know.”
According to Sanders, every position group has been upgraded from the spring.
“The whole offensive line and defensive line are going to look totally different,” he said. “Even the linebackers are going to look totally different.”
The Tigers did conditioning work in June that is continuing in July, which has allowed Sanders to determine who two of his starters will be — quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Dylan Spencer.
Having coached Shedeur in high school, Sanders knows what his QB1 is capable of. But it is Dylan Spencer that has really caught his eye.
Dylan Spencer, A Star Recruit
Spencer, a 6’4″, 300-pound offensive lineman from Madison Central High School, transferred to Jackson State from Missouri.
A three-star offensive line prospect by both 247Sports.com and Scout.com, Spencer was rated as the No. 31 prospect at any position coming out of Mississippi, and the nation’s No. 163 offensive lineman. At Madison Central, Spencer paved the way for a Jaguar team that put up 2,809 yards of total rushing with 34 touchdowns on the ground which earned him several offers from Power Five programs.
Sanders doesn’t hesitate to sing the big man’s praises.
“I love Spencer,” he said. “His work ethic in the weight room, on the field, and in the classroom is epic. He is dominant in all phases.”
When Deion Sanders landed this historic recruiting class, he said the game would change. He’s not backing down from it.
“We expect to win,” he said. “We expect to mature these guys, develop these guys, and give them an opportunity to be a professional on the field and off the field. We’re going to win here. We’re going to turn a lot of heads, I promise you that.”
It looks like Dylan Spencer is going to help Coach Sanders make his words come true at JSU.