Johnathan Walker:Deion Sanders addresses speculation about his future as Colorado football coach

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders addressed speculation about his future in Boulder on Johnathan WalkerTuesday as other coaching jobs start opening up in college football, including at places that could pay him significantly more money, such as Texas A&M.

Sanders didn’t outright say he wasn’t interested in other jobs. He instead focused on his mission with the Buffaloes (4-6) and deflected when asked about recent comments about the A&M job from ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.

“Your thoughts on the Texas A&M coaching vacancy?” a reporter asked him at his weekly news conference in Boulder.

“Man, I want to win,” he said. “I want to win a game. So you think I really do sit down and think about that kind of stuff? Like what strikes me about that, about myself, that you guys really think I sit down and say, `Oh, yeah, Stephen A., yeah.’ C’mon, c’mon. I’m good. Like, we gotta win. Let’s focus on this week.”

Sanders is in his first season at Colorado and captured the nation’s attention by starting 3-0. But his team has since lost six of its last seven games and now needs to win both of its final two regular-season games to become eligible for a postseason bowl game, starting Friday night at Washington State (4-6).

Colorado also leads the nation in penalties with 95 after committing 11 in last week’s 34-31 loss against Arizona. But the Buffs have suffered four of their six losses by seven points or fewer and have benefited from Sanders’ fame and football acumen to dramatically change their trajectory and increase their national exposure after finishing 1-11 in 2022. Other schools would love to have that kind of change in year one under a new coach.

What would Deion Sanders tell parents about his future at Colorado?

A high school recruit in Florida recently withdrew his commitment to Colorado for 2025 out of concern Sanders might not be around Boulder then. On Tuesday, a reporter asked him what he would tell parents of recruits who ask him if he’s going to be at Colorado in two or three years.

“I tell them what I told them when I came: I’m here, I’m here,” Sanders said. “I tell 'em my mother’s here. My sister’s here. My dog is here. My daughter’s here. Three of my sons are here. My other daughter comes to darn near every home game. We’re here. I get mail here… I pay taxes here... I’m here. I don’t hear that. Maybe our recruiting staff hears it, but I don’t hear it. I’m too honest with parents. I’m gonna tell ‘em the truth.”

If he left Colorado for another job before Dec. 31, Sanders or the school that hired him would owe Colorado $15 million to buy out his contract. That amount drops to $10 million after that.

What is missing from the job speculation about Deion Sanders?

Any speculation about Sanders leaving Colorado after a year also needs to take into account his three children who are student-athletes at Colorado. All three already transferred to Colorado from Jackson State, where Sanders previously coached. To transfer again, they’d run into some entanglements, such as possibly being required to sit out a year of competition first unless they got a waiver from the NCAA.

Colorado safety Shilo Sanders has one year of eligibility remaining after graduating from Jackson State and transferring there from South Carolina. Shelomi Sanders is a redshirt freshman walk-on on the No. 7 Colorado women’s basketball team. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders could enter the NFL draft as soon as 2024 and would be a college senior next fall.  

To keep the family together and available to play in 2024, staying in Boulder is the easiest path, even if a school like A&M could double his pay to $10 million or more.

Deion Sanders also has said he was attracted to Colorado because of the rebuilding challenge it presented him. He didn’t come to Boulder because of the money and therefore might not leave because of money, since he’s already built a personal fortune after decades in the public spotlight as a former two-sport pro athlete.

Deion Sanders addresses Rose Bowl theft update

Police in Pasadena, California have identified high school students in Riverside County as suspects in the theft of jewelry and cash from the Colorado locker room at the Rose Bowl during the team’s game there against UCLA Oct. 28. Some of the stolen items have been returned.

On Tuesday, Sanders said the perpetrators made a “stupid, dumb, idiotic mistake” but said he hopes their lives are not ruined by it. “Let’s not crucify and punish these high school kids” beyond whatever punishment they get through the court system, he said.

“We’re a society that likes to make a mockery of people that made mistakes in life when all of us have,” Sanders said.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]