After retiring, Sanders turned to coaching high school football, where he was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian Academy from 2017-2020. He was able to coach both sons Shilo and Shedeur. In 2021, Sanders took the head coaching job at Jackson State University, where all he did was lead the Tigers to a 27-5 record over the last two seasons.
The start of the 2022 recruiting season will mark the first time since 2017 that Sanders will not be coaching at least one of his sons, leaving Jackson State in favor of Colorado.
The indelible mark that Sanders leaves on Jackson State in his short stint will be felt for years to come, thanks in part to back-to-back Celebration Bowl appearances, which is the equivalent of the National Championship for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The Champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have played their title game in the Georgia Dome each year since 2015.
Last year, Sanders’ 11-1 Tigers fell to South Carolina State 31-10. This year, Sanders guided the Tigers to a perfect 12-0 regular season mark, and a date with North Carolina Central.
Then Sanders took the job in Boulder, and will not be coaching the biggest game in Jackson State football history, as the Tigers have never finished a season undefeated, despite 18 SWAC championships and 12 trips to the Division I-AA playoffs.
Eight Pro Bowls, six first-team All-Pro selections and a pair of Super Bowl titles were enough to get Sanders into the Pro Football and College Sports Halls of Fame in 2011, his first year of eligibility for both. The Atlanta Falcons also have Sanders in their Ring Of Honor after spending his first five years of his NFL career there.
With Sanders addressing some of his players earlier this week, advising that not a single roster spot was safe by the time they returned in the spring, his aggressive playing style has carried over to his coaching career. Shedeur was named the FCS Jerry Rice Award winner in 2021, for the top freshman in the nation. Sanders could have easily placed his son at the helm of the offense due to name recognition, but Shedeur took the ball and led the Tigers to heights not seen in more than a decade.
The problem is Sanders jumping to being a marketable name in a prominent conference that will soon be looking for a new identity. USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac 12 for the Big 10 after next season, while the two Oregon schools and Utah will vie for supremacy while being courted by the emerging superconferences.
The timing may be right for the Buffaloes to try and make a splash, as the school has only made a pair of Alamo Bowl appearances since joining the conference in 2011. Sanders will be trying to accomplish a feat not seen since Gary Barnett’s tenure, which is getting the Buffaloes to two consecutive bowl games. Barnett’s 2001 club was the last to reach a major bowl (Fiesta).
There were rumors that the school could reach out to Eric Bienemy, who was the star tailback of their 1990 National Championship season. However, Bienemy comes up short every year for at least the last five for star coordinators to get their first NFL head coaching job. With the openings likely to happen on Black Monday, Bienemy’s wait gets shorter and shorter.
Sanders will have little issue seeing improvement out of the Buffaloes his first year, as Colorado finished 1-11 this year, after consecutive four-win seasons under recently released Karl Dorrell.
-JC24