Deion Sanders has had success at Jackson State during his time as the Tigers’ head coach.
However, now we are entering a new era where players can get paid for their name, image and likeness,, and these young kids are making decisions to play ball based on where they can get the most money.
During a conversation with Carl Reed on 247Sports, Sanders said the NIL landscape is becoming too much like free agency for his liking:
“It’s becoming free agency, real free agency, and if you don’t have it (money), you’re not going to be able to compete,” Sanders said. “It’s just another way, to me, to keep the schools that don’t have the proper funding down.”
Sanders added he wants players to focus on the next steps of their careers, not NIL money:
“First of all, I’m not giving a kid nothing like that,” Sanders said, referring to the reported large deals that players at bigger schools have acquired. “I want you to focus on the NFL, not the NIL. You ball out, and you prepare yourself for the NFL. If you get comfortable when you’ve already got (NIL money), I mean, come on. How hungry are you gonna be to go out there and work and go get it?”
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Sanders has spent the past two seasons as Jackson State’s head coach. After a pandemic-shortened 2020, he guided the Tigers to an 11–2 record and SWAC championship last season.
