Deion Sanders: 'I'd Be a Fool' to Not Consider Big Contract Offer from Power 5 School

While he remains committed to the project he's continuing to build at Jackson State, head coach Deion Sanders won't rule out a move to a Power Five FBS school.

Sanders told Jon Wertheim of 60 Minutes he's "gonna have to entertain it" if a Power Five administrator reached out regarding a vacancy.

"I'm gonna have to entertain it. Straight up," he said. "I'd be a fool not to."

The recent drama surrounding a postgame handshake between Sanders and Alabama State head coach Eddie Robinson Jr. presented the Hall of Famer with a golden opportunity to continue answering his critics.

Robinson told reporters that Sanders "ain't SWAC," which inevitably prompted a response from the legendary cornerback:

"I'm not one to come back the next day and you going to pick up the phone and you going to apologize and we straight. No, not whatsoever. You meant that mess. And one of the comments that kind of disturbed me out of all the comments, that I'm not SWAC. Who is? I got time today. Who is SWAC if I ain't SWAC? Who is SWAC if I ain't SWAC?"

It was easy to be skeptical about the marriage between Sanders and Jackson State early on. He lacked any college coaching experience, and Robinson's pointed remark underlined how he didn't have deep, existing ties to HBCU football.

Was this a genuine attempt to transform HBCU football for the better, or merely an avenue for Sanders to get his foot in the door as a coach before bolting for greener pastures?

So far, the experiment has gone better than anybody could've foreseen.

Jackson State went 11-2 in 2021 and is off to a 6-0 start in 2022. Sanders has also turned the Tigers into an attractive landing spot for blue-chip high schoolers. They landed five 4-star recruits in 2021 and signed 5-star cornerback Travis Hunter heading into this year.

Of course, Sanders' answer to the question posed by Wertheim was a case of stating the obvious. As much as the 55-year-old is enjoying life at Jackson State, it will be awfully alluring to take a marquee Power Five job down the road.

Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Arizona State and Colorado are all available right now, and each one has its selling points.

Let's say Florida State continues sputtering under Mike Norvell and is looking for a replacement in another year or two. Sanders would almost assuredly be one of the first names on the Seminoles' shortlist.

The Power Five overtures are bound to come once the 2022 season concludes, at which point Sanders might be facing a crossroads.