Stephen A. Smith let his imagination run wild trying to project Deion Sanders' next coaching destination, but On3's J.D. PicKell defended Coach Prime potentially sticking with Colorado amidst the ESPN analyst's manufactured storyline.
"What's wrong with the job he got? (and is now having success at)," PicKell wrote.
Stephen A. mentioned Florida State, Texas A&M, and Alabama as possible "Prime Time" destinations next.
“Florida State, I don’t care about last year, I understand they were undefeated, and then you know what … after their quarterback got hurt, they didn’t get picked for the college football playoff, and they were salty about it,” Smith said on First Take (h/t On3). “They didn’t show up and got obliterated by Georgia in a bowl game. But they looked awful this year. They should have hired Prime Time at Florida State, his alma mater. They should have hired him at Texas A&M, you know, the SEC, they should have hired him.
“And I ain’t gonna lie to you, even though I didn’t say anything about it at the time, because the man was a two time Pac-12 coach of the year and won a national championship, couple of national championships in the NAIA, and had Washington in the national championship game last year, damn it. The way Alabama’s looking, I think they should have hired him at Alabama.”
Deion Sanders isn't leaving Colorado for FSU, Texas A&M, or Alabama
When these sorts of rumors come up, we always refer to On SI's Josh Tolle reporting on Coach Prime's autonomy, or lack thereof, in the SEC or the South in general.
"...the University of Florida would never allow Coach Prime to run the program the way he wants," Tolle prefaced before saying, "Scott Stricklin and the UF Board of Trustees would be calling some shots with Sanders there as coach and wouldn't allow him to be the CEO. It all sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. You can't tell a living legend how to run his program and many schools don't want to hand off full autonomy. Sanders has built a relationship with Rick George that gives him authority over the program without strict oversight. No where in the rest of the nation will this happen."
Sanders has it too good to leave. That'll always be true, unless SEC schools are changing their standards.