Deion Sanders Has To “Beef Up In Front” Before Playing Alabama

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban made waves in May as he spoke about the direction of college football in relation with name, image and likeness (NIL). One of the programs that Saban sideswiped in his comments was HBCU's Jackson State, led by football legend Deion Sanders.  

Sanders took a classier path than Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher but was still upset with his fellow Aflac spokesman over his comments.

The NFL Hall of Famer and college football's greatest coach have apparently squashed their spat, but it didn't stop Sanders from being asked about Saban at SWAC Media Days this week.

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The JSU head coach came off as highly self-aware of the state of the Tigers' program when asked if he had any interest in taking on Saban and the Crimson Tide on the field.

"No, no, no. He's (Saban) not going to play us right now, we're not ready for that. No, no, we're not into sacrificing our kids to get a check. He's gotta give me another year. I've gotta get beef up in the front. The difference of Power 5s and HBCUs right now is those big guys in the middle. It's not the quarterback, it's not the receivers, the DBs or the skill positions but those big dogs in the middle. We've gotta beef up that to be able to compete with something like that," said Sanders.

Sanders looks to maintain his growth in his third year as JSU head coach in 2022, he went 4-3 in his COVID-19-altered first year and 11-2  and won the SWAC in 2021.