Deion Sanders made an appearance on Good Morning America on Wednesday to promote his new season of “Coach Prime” and he was asked about his influence on NFL stars coming to HBCU football programs.
The current coach at Colorado was asked by GMA Host Michael Strahan, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who played at Texas Southern, about his influence on Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson who recently took over HBCU programs Norfolk State and Delaware State.
“I feel like I’m blessed to be blessing,” Sanders told his fellow Hall of Famer. “And those guys you just forementioned, I reached out to them and I want them to succeed immensely. All the wrongs, all the rights, everything that I could give them and all of the guidance — I’m there for them. They’re like my little brothers and I love it.”
Deion Sanders, of course, got his first head coaching job at Jackson State. After being hired in 2020 he brought the proud program back to prominence, winning back-to-back SWAC championships in 2021 and 2022 before leaving to take the Colorado job. Sanders says he’s ecstatic that former NFL stars like Jackson and Vick are getting these opportunities.
“I love that they’re getting opportunities,” Sanders said in the interview. “Because we never got these opportunities, we comprised 75-80 percent of the team — but then we can’t coach? That doesn’t make any sense to me. So I’m thankful that we’re getting opportunities.”
Of course, HBCUs have been the ones largely offering these opportunities, often seeking out players like Vick at NSU or Eddie George at Tennessee State to take over their programs. Deion Sanders has experienced this first hand and made sure to acknowledge it in a different segment. Jackson State alumnus Demarco Morgan thanked Sanders for what he did for JSU, and Sanders made sure to show his appreciation to the HBCU where he got his college coaching start.
“They looked out for me,” Sanders told Morgan. “Without Jackson State, it wouldn’t be no Prime. Trust me.”