Pro Football Hall of Famer and second-year Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders just led the program to a 9-3 record and a bowl game berth.
The two-time Super Bowl champion has completely turned around the once dormant Buffaloes program, and fans believe he should be rewarded for his efforts. While Sanders is handsomely compensated following him signing a five-year, $29.2 million deal to become the coach in 2022, in comparison to what other coaches are making, fans think the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is underpaid.
Is Deion Sanders Underpaid at $6M Per Season?
At just under $6 million per season Sanders doesn’t even crack the top 20 in salary for coaches. That’s not even half of what Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart takes in ($13.2 million) per year as the highest-paid coach in CFB. This despite the school seeing a 20 percent jump in student applications since his arrival. Because of his recent success, many believe he deserves a substantial raise.
There are many who would argue he’s worth as much as anyone on this list to Colorado and college football in general.
Fans Want Coach Prime’s Deal Renegotiated
In the comments on a YouTube video posted by “Talksport,” multiple fans gave their opinion on Sanders landing a contract renegotiation that will increase average annual salary.
“If Deion is doing that for Colorado for real then he is definitely going to get paid,” one said.
“The school will renegotiate IF he continues to succeed,” another added.
“He will get $15M per year for his new contract,” a third wrote.
With jobs opening up around the country and rumors of Sanders may be following son Shedeur or his “adopted” son Travis Hunter to the pros, something Coach Prime has vehemently shot down, it appears that Colorado AD Rick George has taken notice.
George Reportedly Open To New Deal For Coach Prime
While the current jobs at Purdue, UNC and UCF aren’t appealing enough to lure Sanders, there is one job that many believe could sway Sanders to leave Boulder.
The possibility of Florida State (Deion’s alma mater) moving on from current coach Mike Norvell is being floated around following the Seminoles (despite him being under contract for the next nine seasons and possessing a huge $64M buyout.) For Sanders it’d be hard for him to not entertain the opportunity if it did come.
But according to BuffZone reporter Brian Howell keeping Sanders in Boulder has already been discussed.
“Met with Colorado AD Rick George, who told me he and head football coach Deion Sanders have discussed a contract extension and will continue to have discussions after the season is over,” Howell said. After this year, Sanders has three years remaining on his original five-year deal.
Sanders Says Players Will Play In Bowl Game
With the possible No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks in Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders prepping for award season and the NFL draft, Sanders made it clear that they and other players won’t skip the team’s bowl game.
“Our kids are going to play in our bowl game because that’s what we signed up to do and we’re going to finish,” insisted Sanders.
“We’re not going to tap out, because that throws off the structure of next season. There are a couple teams that should take note. They laid an egg in the bowl game, and they haven’t recovered since,” he added.
“We don’t plan on doing that. We plan on going out there fighting just like we fought today regardless of where we are.”
And that is why he’s a wanted man in Boulder, he’s given the program a belief not seen or felt since Bill McCartney in the early 1990s.
