Deion Sanders calls out inequities at HBCU Jackson State: 'It causes a kid not to dream'

Deion Sanders has had to make adjustments in his new role as head coach at Jackson State.

Sanders starred at football school Florida State and spent 14 seasons in the NFL where he built a Hall of Fame career. Those are places that come with luxuries. Jackson State isn’t a place like that.

Sanders spoke with reporters for the first time at Southwestern Athletic Conference media day on Wednesday following big recruitment wins last month and shared the differences in resources.

Sanders called out rickety training tables, uneven practice fields and outdated helmets, pads and practice equipment, via the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. It creates an unequal playing field, metaphorically, for football players at different schools.

“The playing field is horrible,” Sanders said. “It's not a level playing field. It's unacceptable. Thank God that God called me to change the game, to open their eyes, to open the door. Not just for Jackson State, but for everybody.”

The money at smaller schools isn’t there like it is at big ones such as Clemson, which opened its $55 million football complex in 2017. It came in part from College Football Playoff payouts and is a cycle that brings in top recruits who then put them in more championships.

The lack of top resources creates a different type of cycle. The players who do go to Jackson State have trouble getting to the NFL, Sanders said.

“Some of the things that I've seen thus far early in my tenure are truly unacceptable,” Sanders said. “It causes a kid not to dream. It causes a kid to not have that passion because he don't see no end result that's promising for him.”

Sanders, 53, told reporters he’s working on changing things, similar to what his sons both said when they announced they would be playing for their father at Jackson State.

He’s coordinated an apparel deal with Under Armour, switching the school from Nike, and promising customization in the product, per HBCU Game Day.



The players were excited to get a new sweatsuit and a coordinated uniform from helmet to shoes, Sanders said.

“You know my quote, ‘If you look good, you feel good.’ That's the durn truth,” he said, via the Clarion Ledger.

He’s also met with Golden Corral to get players a place to eat off campus, he said. In the weeks and months after his hire, donations have poured in to Jackson State. Golf star Phil Mickelson announced a $500,000 donation in September and selected the school as his HBCU to support in “The Match: Champions for Change” golf tournament alongside Steph Curry, Charles Barkley and Peyton Manning.

 

Damn they didn’t have coordinated clothing? Anyways I’m happy Deion spoke out because HBCU’s need that sports money.

 

I remember going to a central state homecoming game and seeing how fukked up those fields are.

 

Does that mean they were just wearing generic Nike gear?

 

Sadly Prime is only one coach.

HBCU’s need more former NFL stars to go to these schools. Ed Reed, Michael Irvin. Jerry Rice. Something. It don’t even have to be head coach. Athletic director anything.

 

Probably hand me down gear. Old shyt. Refurbished uniforms.

 

This the picture i try to paint for folks in these just go to hbcu, to die on they hill, it really is a difference between hbcu and pwi and if folks want kids to make a leap to hbcu’s you gotta create a landing place (i.e. invest money)

 

The want a bunch of 17/18 year olds to sacrifice so much so they can feel good

 

That Grambling story from a few years ago isn't an anomaly. Prime thinks all this shyt is going to be fixed because he wants it and he's going to be in for a rude awakening.

 

Deion should try to see if he can get in contact with Mackenzie Bezos. She’s thrown millions at HBCU’s

 

Prime gon be there for 1-2 years until a better situation manifest itself i guarantee it, this is to merely bolster his resume

 

exactly, nikkas ain’t donated the first dollar, but want them to do all the work, i don’t hear none of them throwing money to JSU

 

He could have a better opportunity now if he wanted.

 

Yep. He may end up leaving that program in a worse position than it was. The minute he dips, all those high level recruits will be looking to dip too.

 

Pretty much. I’m not sure how it goes with sports contracts and HBCU’s but SJU & Nike have a deal in which all of SJU athletes had red customization shoes with the city on it (ugly as fukk BTW).

That’s foul Nike didn’t offer that for hbcu’s