Kirby Smart or Nick Saban should’ve won the 2023 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award won by Deion Sanders according to Mike Farrell of the Mike Farrell Sports brand — who conceded that there was a legitimate case for Coach Prime winning even if he wasn’t Farrell’s first choice.
“Now, let’s be clear — I don’t agree with this pick at all,” Farrell prefaced before saying, “If it were to be a college football personality, I’d go with Kirby Smart and his amazing winning streak or Nick Saban and the revival of his team from the beginning of the season. Or perhaps Marvin Harrison Jr. is arguably the best WR prospect in college football since Calvin Johnson and one of the most humble and nicest young men in a college football era or bling and loudmouths (like Deion ironically). But this isn’t just for clicks or clout, as has been suggested. A true case can be made that Deion Sanders not only became the talk of college football but the talk of the entire sports world all year long. And perhaps that’s worthy of Sportsperson of the Year.”
Many destroyed Sanders on the X platform for winning the award, but there are no criteria for the award to begin with that aren’t subjective in nature anyway.
Coach Prime must improve his coaching legacy after amassing losing record in his first Power Five season
Winning SI’s award is nice, but winning more than four games in a season at the Power Five level would be nice for Sanders; who likely would echo a similar sentiment if asked about being named sportsperson of the year.
At Jackson State, Sanders couldn’t win the big one, but he did have a winning record during every season in the SWAC. In Colorado, after October 7, Sanders and Co. couldn’t win a single one in a season that started with hope but ended devoid of it.
If there’s to be a step up from Colorado down the road for Sanders in a coaching career that once seemed destined for greatness, 2024 has to see at least 50% more wins than the 2023 season had.