Deion Sanders loses HBCU advocate from his Colorado football staff
Deion Sanders lost an HBCU advocate from his Colorado football coaching staff ahead of fall camp: special teams coordinator Trevor Reilly, whose departure from Boulder was officially reported on August 20.
On SI was the first to confirm.
"Colorado Buffaloes football assistant coach Trevor Reilly reportedly resigned before the start of fall camp," On SI's Jason Jones prefaced before saying, "Sports Illustrated confirmed with CU's SID staff that he was no longer with the program."
Reilly once claimed that every college coach should volunteer for a year at an HBCU at any level of collegiate sports.
“Any young coach who thinks they want to become a college coach should be required to spend a year volunteering at an HBCU football program,” Reilly said (h/t On3). “It doesn’t matter what level it is, D1, D2, D3 … Because there’s so many issues that come up that you would not think would be an issue at any other place or situation.”
Deion Sanders has been accused of using HBCUs for his own personal gain
Coach Prime's arrival in Jackson, Mississippi made the Tigers a major story in college football. According to some HBCU coaches, though, Sanders was only ever there to use HBCUs for his own personal gain.
"While Sanders attracted national media attention — including a 60 Minutes interview – I never got the sense the media that flocked to him really understood the HBCU experience," Andscape's William C. Rhoden prefaced before saying, "I’m not sure he ever completely got the experience either – he didn’t stay long enough to really get it. Just before last year’s Celebration Bowl, Sanders announced he was leaving Jackson State for Colorado.
"As I spoke with coaches and conference commissioners this weekend, the consensus was he had used Black college football for his personal gain, but bottom line: Black college football was and always will be."
Losing a pro-HBCU voice could well be used against Sanders, even though turnover is as common in college football as outbound B2B sales.