There are always plenty of surprises in the college football coaching carousel, but Stephen A. Smith lobbied for the biggest of them all on Monday.
Texas A&M made the expensive decision to fire head coach Jimbo Fisher over the weekend, and names are already floating around for a potential replacement in College Station.
If Smith had his way, though, the choice would be easy: Deion Sanders.
"Primetime Deion Sanders in the SEC? That needs to happen."@stephenasmith is calling for Deion Sanders to take Jimbo Fisher's place as HC for Texas A&M 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZYKW1XmGcy
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 13, 2023
Smith said on Monday’s edition of Get Up that Deion to the SEC “needs” to happen and that he wanted Texas A&M to hire Sanders.
Now, Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes were *the* story of the season’s first few weeks. Coach Prime won the first three games after completely overhauling a 1-11 team’s roster. But Colorado has fallen back down to Earth a bit with a 1-6 record since that start (and losers of its past four games). While Sanders considerably improved Colorado compared to last season, the team would need to upset Washington State and Utah on the road to make a bowl game.
Sanders could be well on his way to a bigger job in college football, but the timing right now just doesn’t seem ideal. After all, if Sanders were to hypothetically take the Texas A&M job (or any other job), it would be difficult for Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter to come along after already using a transfer.
Still, Smith’s suggestion certainly caught the attention of college football fans.
This was how Twitter reacted
No I do not thing Deion should leave Colorado. He can build something special over in Boulder. That would be weak if he left and used Colorado as a stepping stone https://t.co/myr3Q84fkX
— Lawrence Namou (@LawrenceNamou) November 13, 2023
Deion is not a proven coach at the college level yet. TAMU needs a real head coach. Recruiting is not their issue. https://t.co/7hfzBwSiG4
— CFBKnights ⚔️ (@CFBKnights) November 13, 2023
Hype would be like nothing we’ve ever seen before, but has anyone addressed the fact that Deion is extremely unproven has a HC? https://t.co/C2QGefn1iU
— Austin (@kozl93) November 13, 2023
Deion has done NOTHING in his first season at Colorado. He needs to establish himself there before moving on to a big time program. He hasn’t even had a full year of recruiting… https://t.co/iWC6Zxqt6O
— Ryan McCall (@SPORTGUY_MCCALL) November 13, 2023
Yeah, because a coach who is (1-6) in last place in his conference is the perfect fit for Texas A&M following the Jimbo debacle. https://t.co/a0AcWjSCMW
— Andrew R (@kidcue) November 13, 2023
As an enjoyer of online college football content I also think this should happen https://t.co/fjN8mJoNwo
— Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) November 13, 2023
What has Deion done at Colorado that tells you he would be a good coach in the SEC? Keep in mind recruiting talent isn’t Texas A&M’s problem.. https://t.co/W62z8oAGHP pic.twitter.com/G8jVB2oQD6
— Hub (@KenHeLive) November 13, 2023
and that’s another reason why stephen a smith shouldn’t be taken seriously in any way https://t.co/u9JJJ5NxKI
— sessler (@andrewmfsessler) November 13, 2023
4-6 at Colorado in his first season https://t.co/f9I4apUAQX
— Joe Warchola (@JoeyWarchola) November 13, 2023