Three years ago, Deion Sanders made national headlines after being named the head coach of Jackson State University's football program.

The Hall-of-Famers hiring was the biggest of its kind for an HBCU. Many believed the hire heralded a change in HBCU sports’ culture and an increase in media coverage.

However, some of the goodwill that Sanders accrued with the HBCU community, and the Black community by extension, recently diminished with his decision to leave JSU.

On Dec. 3, Coach Prime (an allusion to his nickname “Primetime”) announced he accepted the head coach position at the University of Colorado.

For some, the choice to coach for a Power Five school was an obvious one.

“No, I wasn’t surprised at all,” said sophomore Hampton University center Garrett Slider. “As a Division I football player, I think every coach desires to play at the highest level of competition. Deion was playing in the Southwestern Athletic Conference– I’m not saying the players there are bad, but the talent level doesn’t compare to the PAC-12.”

Others, like senior HU linebacker Shane Fordham, were taken aback.

“I was shocked,” he said. “I really didn’t see the move coming because I thought he was planning on staying with JSU for the foreseeable future in his efforts to raise the standard for HBCU sports.”

Part of that confusion, as Fordham referenced, stemmed from Sanders’ success at JSU.

In his three seasons, Coach Prime led the Tigers to a 27-5 record. They were two-time SWAC champions and just narrowly lost to North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17.

Sanders was also named SWAC Coach of the Year in the last two seasons.

On top of the on-field success, Sanders’ presence brought national attention to HBCUs that was not previously present. In fact, in his opening press conference at JSU, he talked about evening the odds:

“Playing on ESPN 2 and not ESPN. Not being invited to bowl games when some teams are 6-5 and really not worthy. I want to know why that is not on the table for HBCUs,” he said. “When I say level the playing field, I want to level it in every aspect of the word. I just truly want our kids to understand that there is a navigation system that leads us to the NFL like it once did.”

Despite his limited tenure, Sanders did have a major impact in “leveling the field” for HBCUs.

“Deion Sanders has done more for HBCU sports in his short time at JSU than any other coach or athlete has done in their entire careers,” said Fordham. “HBCU football games have never been played on national TV before his time at JSU. The nation’s number one recruit has never committed to an HBCU out of high school before, like how Travis Hunter committed to JSU last year.”

Coach Prime has undeniably impacted HBCU sports culture, bringing to light the bands, dance squads, and overall attitude that sets these schools apart from predominantly white institutions. However, his decision to not only leave Jackson State, but to go to a PWI, left a bad taste in many people’s mouths.

“Him leaving JSU for a PWI was a bit disappointing,” said senior HU receiver Chad Booker, “considering the demeanor and rhetoric he was spewing on a daily basis that he wanted to be a part of a ‘movement.’ A real movement don’t last three years. I wish Deion stayed for five to ten years at JSU.”

Not only is Sanders leaving for a PWI, but he also plans to bring some of JSU’s best players with him through the transfer portal.

Coach Prime all but confirmed the starting quarterback job would go to his son Shedeur, and it’s highly likely the former number one high school recruit Travis Hunter will transfer to Colorado as well. Though Sanders’ presence attracted top-tier talent, his departure is sapping JSU of their best players.

In an interview with CNN, sports journalist Bomani Jones shed light on Sanders’ thought process. The host of “The Correct Time with Bomani Jones” was both understanding and candid in his answers:

“What he did is what college coaches do all the time, which is you have to sell people four-year, ten-year plans when your plan is always one year at a time…I wouldn’t have come in the first place and said that ‘God sent me here to fix HBCUs,’ but God decided in the middle of that that you were supposed to leave?”

Jones continued, “He had to find somebody who would give him a job and make him a head coach so he could have that on his resumé and then he could take that and try to get the job he actually wanted. Jackson State was the place that could do it.”

Sanders hardly has time to pay attention to the national spotlight, as he has to direct a rudderless University of Colorado football program. The team finished with a pitiful 1-11 record last season.

Colorado has had four winning seasons since the turn of the century, with the most recent one occurring in 2016. Sanders’ new contract gives him five years to turn the program around.