Deion Sanders made a big splash over the weekend after it was announced that he would be leaving Jackson State to become the head coach of Colorado.
The news met with many people who didn’t like it but also met with people who were very happy for Coach Prime.
With his arrival in Colorado, Prime is set to have a massive bump in salary. He was making $300,000 at JSU, donating part of his salary to help the program, and now he will be driving north of $5 million.
Except Colorado doesn’t exactly have money for him. That’s not speculation. It’s straight from the athletic director’s mouth. AD Rick George was asked how they came up with the money to afford Coach Prime, and he straight up said they don’t have it yet, but they’ll have it, and he’s not worried about it.
Sanders’s deal with Colorado is for five years, $29.5 million, which is an average of $5.9 million per year, per Brian Howell of Buffzone. Sanders will make $5.5 million in year one, and will earn $200,000 raises each year over the life of the contract.
The pay of Sanders far exceeds that of former coach Karl Dorrell, who was paid $3.6 million this season. The $3.6 million that Dorrell earned was previously the most Colorado had ever paid a head coach.
So how exactly will George and Colorado pay for the new contract for Sanders, which is the richest deal in the history of the football program?
“We don’t have the money yet, but I know we’ll have it so I’m not worried about that piece,” George said when asked about Sanders’s contract on Sunday.
While George wasn’t ready to make public the method through which the school will pay Sanders, it does sound like there is some funding lined up for the new coach that will be finalized soon.
There has been a lot of talk about donors calling the school, so George is probably right not to be worried about it.
I hope things work out for Coach Prime.
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