ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Pushes for Deion Sanders to Take SEC Job

There is a new opening in the legendary football conference.

Stephen A. Smith threw out a high-profile name as his preferred hire to replace Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M.

Smith, appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday morning, a day after Fisher’s high-priced dismissal in College Station, believes Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is who the Aggies should target as their next head coach.

“Deion Sanders in the SEC, with that vault that they have available to them? With those hogs that he could recruit?” Smith said. “He doesn’t have them at Colorado, and he ain’t going to get them. I don’t think they’ll do it, but Texas A&M, Primetime Deion Sanders in the SEC? That needs to happen.”

"Primetime Deion Sanders in the SEC? That needs to happen."@stephenasmith is calling for Deion Sanders to take Jimbo Fisher's place as HC for Texas A&M 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZYKW1XmGcy

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 13, 2023

Smith likely won’t be the last to mention Sanders as a candidate for the Aggies, given the program’s near-unlimited financial resources and access to talent in Texas. Sanders was the story of the first half of the college football season after his team’s 3–0 start, but the Buffaloes are just 1–6 since and need to win their final two games of the season to get bowl eligible. That doesn’t make Sanders’ first season in Boulder a failure given the mess he inherited, but he isn’t quite as a hot a name on coaching candidate lists.

The other element to Coach Prime’s potential candidacy for jobs this winter is the eligibility of his son Shedeur and prized two-way star Travis Hunter. Since both transferred with Deion Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado, they’d be forced to sit out next season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules unless they graduate early or receive a waiver from the NCAA.

Regardless of the likelihood of it actually happening, the thought of Sanders in the SEC certainly got people talking.

What are we even doing here?!

1) Coach Prime hasn't even finished his first season at Colorado.
2) He's lost 6 of his last 7 games and 4 in a row.
3) He can't bring Shedeur or Travis Hunter with him as transfers.
4) There's at least 4 coaches just in the Pac-12 I would call… https://t.co/kv64I1GlMh

— Mike Mayer (@offthemike28) November 13, 2023

I’d actually take A&M serious if Prime was their coach lol https://t.co/VZDkX8mkUQ

— Zack Sanchez (@Zsanchez33) November 13, 2023

College football coverage on ESPN has been reduced to this… https://t.co/yzqLRbI2Ar

— Old Row Sports (@OldRowSports) November 13, 2023

The comments under this are both wildly entertaining and a whirlwind all at once. https://t.co/bFOsOOyPdn

— emilyetaylor (@emilyetaylor23) November 13, 2023

No shot! https://t.co/6Ig29JniWu

— Mark Lake (@MALakeJr) November 13, 2023

I respect Deion a lot for what he’s done with a broken program and it’ll be very impressive if they claw to a bowl game. With that being said you want Texas A&M to hire a non proven coach when you’re still paying Jimbo $70 million for his buyout? It’s just not happening. https://t.co/HWpU0VU1tH

— Ryan Ebeling (@RyanEbeling23) November 13, 2023