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Deion Sanders believes he could've excelled at a third sport

Yardbarker logo Yardbarker 2/4/2023 Mike Santa Barbara, Yardbarker
Deion Sanders. © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports Deion Sanders.

Deion Sanders, now the head football coach at Colorado, was once a two-sport athlete, playing in both the NFL and MLB. However, after watching some of the other CU athletic programs compete, Sanders took a liking to another sport, lacrosse. 

Sanders met with reporters on Friday and said he attended a CU lacrosse game last week, calling the sport "beautiful." 

"I actually picked up a stick and threw the ball. I should've got into lacrosse like Jim Brown," Sanders said. "I think I would've been nice with it. A brother with a stick? That's something, isn't it?" 

Sanders excelled at baseball and football and likely would've done the same in lacrosse had he played. He was never an All-Star at the MLB level but played 641 career games over nine seasons for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. Meanwhile, on the gridiron, Sanders played 13 seasons and was a six-time All-Pro and an eight-time Pro Bowler. After 188 career games, mostly with the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys, Sanders was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. 

Now well into his second career as a head football coach, Sanders is trying to turn around a Colorado team that's had only one winning season since 2006. 

Hired in December to lead the Buffaloes after the program's sixth straight losing season, Sanders is already making a difference. According to 247Sports, Colorado had the 21st-best recruiting class in the nation on signing day this year, which includes five-star corner Cormani McClain and four-star recruits: running back Dylan Edwards and wideouts Adam Hopkins and Omarion Miller. 

Before joining Colorado, Sanders spent three seasons leading the Jackson State Tigers, finishing his tenure with a 27-5 record, winning back-to-back SWAC titles in 2021 and 2022.

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Related slideshow: Ranking the new college football coaching hires for 2023 (Provided by Yardbarker)

Every coaching cycle has its share of splashy hires, some questionable moves, and ones that are simply stunning. We certainly have all of that this offseason, though nothing on the level of the high-level movement we had in 2021-2022. There seems to be an interesting narrative forming this time around -- giving coaches their first big job. Sure, Matt Rhule and Hugh Freeze get back on the big stage again, but Deion Sanders moves from Jackson State to a Power 5 job in Colorado, and Trent Dilfer jumps from a prep high school to UAB. Brand new coaches were hired at Purdue, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, South Florida, Western Michigan, and Charlotte. One thing nearly all these coaches have in common: they aren't walking into a ready-made situation.We also know that not all of them will turn out to be great hires.  I mean, nobody intentionally hires a bad head coach, but eventually, some get let go...which is why new ones need to be found. So let's rank this season's new head coaching hires.
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