Deion Sanders stealing Alabama coach for CU staff ‘something of a coaching coup’

Deion Sanders‘ poaching of Charles Kelly from Nick Saban’s Alabama coaching staff for his inaugural Colorado football coaching staff on December 7 was deemed “something of a coaching coup” by Footballscoop’s John Brice.

“It was something of a coaching coup earlier this year, when Deion Sanders snagged away Charles Kelly from Alabama as one of Sanders’s signature early hires atop the Colorado Buffaloes football program,” Brice wrote.

Kelly, an Ozark, Alabama native, has roots in the Yellowhammer State — having played at Auburn as a defensive back before multi-year coaching stints at Central-Phenix City (HS), Jacksonville State, Eufala (HS), and most recently, Alabama — he left behind to be apart of one of college football’s most spotlighted programs in 2023; one that is expected to face myriad adversity.

Colorado football DC: Deion Sanders and Nick Saban have more similarities than differences

Kelly was tasked with being the mouthpiece of Colorado football at Pac-12 Media Day without Sanders due to Coach Prime’s multiple surgeries to address blood clots in his legs. One of the most notable soundbites that came from the 55-year-old was the claim that there are more similarities between Sanders and Saban than there are differences.

“You ask the similarities, people ask me that all the time,” Kelly prefaced before saying, “There are a lot more similarities about Coach Saban and Coach Prime than there are differences. When I say that, I always say this first of all. First of all, they’re very good men, right? Very good men. They have conviction. When they believe in something, they fight for it, all right? That’s a sign of a good person.”

Kelly will know more intimately how similar the two are during the 2023 season when the two will collaborate on coming up with a defensive gameplan for a group that is talented but lacks any meaningful experience playing together.