Deion Sanders claims he won't follow Shedeur Sanders to NFL and leave Colorado behind

Some coaches are better served to be in college. One such coach happens to be Deion Sanders over at Colorado. Although his Buffs did not live up to the hype at the end of his first season in Boulder, CU was markedly better on the football field. They did win three more games in 2023 than in 2022, but were still two shy of achieving bowl eligibility. Of course, he has some sons who will be turning pro.

In a sit-down interview with FOX Sports college football analyst and former Colorado starting quarterback Joel Klatt, Sanders made it abundantly clear that he has no intentions of following his sons Shedeur and Shilo, as well as Travis Hunter, to the NFL once they exhaust their eligibility. Hunter is a top-five prospect. Shedeur Sanders is a first-round talent. Shilo Sanders, well, he will get drafted...

A lot can change between now and then, but I can get behind Sanders' comments about the NFL.

“I’m a leader of men, not a follower of men. I’m a father, not a baby daddy. I lead my sons. I don’t follow my sons. My sons, Travis [Hunter]  included, are getting ready to migrate to the NFL. I’m not following them to the NFL."

He followed up this quote with another by saying that he paved a way for them, not one to follow.

“I paved the way for my babies. They’re not paving the way for me. So, I plan on being here and being dominant here, because they’re establishing something that we’re going to continue to build on for years to come. And I’m thankful that they’re establishing what they’re establishing.”

Here is the entire episode of The Joel Klatt Show in which Sanders appears to talk about CU football.

Let's unpack what Sanders is really trying to say here with these epic quotes of his a bit further.

Deion Sanders does not plan to follow his sons to the NFL after this year

Even though this offseason has been quite tumultuous for Sanders' Colorado program, I still believe in him. He is my favorite NFL player of all time and was a great interview when I spoke with him for the first time last summer. All along, I never thought he had any intentions of being an NFL head coach. Even if the Dallas Cowboys were to open up, I think he is too smart to take a job with such big risks.

To me, by staying at a place like Colorado, a program with lower standards and realistic expectations, Sanders can build a sustainable winner. Of course, it will require him being an active participant in high school recruiting. Sanders may be able to sustain a necessary level of cachet in the transfer portal, but it is never going to replace the required grassroots movement you need from high school.

Futhermore, Sanders is more of a CEO-type than any college football head coach I have seen in a while. More so than Dabo Swinney is today at Clemson, or even what Urban Meyer was at his prime at Ohio State and Florida before that. What I am getting at is this. If Sanders wins at Colorado in the next year or so, he will able to coach there for as long as he would like. The NFL is short for Not For Long...

Sanders' comments feel too well-thought-out to not be true, so we better do our best to believe him.