Deion Sanders promised to respond to “a lie” Nick Saban told and he’s done just that.
The Jackson State head coach responded to Saban’s comments insinuating that a $1 million deal brought top 2022 prospect Travis Hunter to the fold. That is a claim that both Sanders and his player deny.
“I don’t make a million,” Sanders told Andscape. “Travis ain’t built like that. Travis ain’t chasing a dollar. Travis is chasing greatness. Travis and his family don’t get down like that,” Sanders said. “They never came to us in search of the bag. They’re not built like that. This kid wants to be great.
“He wants my hands on him. He wants me to mold him. He wants me to be his navigational system through life. He wants to be that dude.”
Saban told the media on Thursday afternoon that he had reached out to Sanders and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher regarding his comments. Sanders says the two haven’t spoken.
“I haven’t talked to Coach Saban. I’m sure he’s tried to call. We need to talk publicly – not privately. What you said was public. That doesn’t require a conversation. Let’s talk publicly and let everybody hear the conversation,” Sanders said. “You can’t do that publicly and call privately. No, no, no. I still love him. I admire him. I respect him. He’s the magna cum laude of college football and that’s what it’s going to be because he’s earned that.
“But he took a left when he should’ve stayed right. I’m sure he’ll get back on course. I ain’t tripping.”
Deion Sanders says while he may be new to the coaching game, he knows how it is played at the high level.
“I don’t even wear a watch and I know what time it is. They forget I know who’s been bringing the bag and dropping it off,” Sanders said. “I know this stuff. I’m not the one you want to play with when it comes to all of this stuff.”
Sanders said he wasn’t mad with Saban personally, and that he understood the audience that Saban was talking to.
“Coach Saban wasn’t talking to me. Coach Saban wasn’t talking to Jimbo Fisher. He was talking to his boosters. He was talking to his alumni. He was talking to his givers. He was trying to get money,” Sanders said. “That was what he was doing. He was just using us to get to where he was trying to get to.”