“They’d be Fathers, Not Baby Daddies”: Coach Deion Sanders’ Aim of Turning Young Boys into ‘Real Men’ Gets a Shoutout From Shaquille O’Neal

Deion Sanders, the former NFL and MLB star, recently talked in detail about his ‘never say never’ mindset on The Pivot podcast. While heavily emphasizing on the need to help young football enthusiasts become good men first, Coach Prime provided his mantra for success which apparently got validation from NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal.

As it turns out, a section of Deion’s inspiring talk was recently shared by the Colorado Buffaloes’ coach himself as an Instagram reel which was then re-shared by Shaquille O’Neal on his Instagram story. In that video, Sanders reflected on how his aim as a coach is much more than just helping young footballers turn pro.

Deion Sanders wants the kids he coaches to become real men & Shaquille O’Neal is in approval

In the particular snippet of the interview shared by Shaq, Deion can be heard saying that he just never thinks about failing at anything. “I am not a failure, I have won everywhere I have gone, all the way back from the shorty. I am a damn winner man, that’s what I do” Deion said. For the unversed, Shaq is someone who has always backed Sanders, so him propagating Sanders’ views doesn’t come as a surprise.

Coming back to the interview, Coach Prime went on to specify that his winning is not based on games, but on life. He stated that he wants the kids he is coaching to be fine young men. “They’d be fathers, not baby daddies. They’d be real men that shows up on time and early. That if they say they gonna do it, they gonna do it,” Sanders stated.

 

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The Colorado coach then claimed that he wants the kids he coaches to raise young women with class and dignity. He wants them to be responsible, to own things. The video ends with Deion stating,”what we are teaching here is much more than football. I always say, send me a boy and I will send you back a man.” Indeed, Coach Prime’s approach as a mentor is what has helped him in gaining such high status among football admirers.

Coach Prime says he didn’t join or leave Jackson State just for money

In the last few months, Sanders has been heavily criticized for leaving Jackson State. While he was drawing around $300,000 annually at Jackson, accepting the head coach’s job at Colorado earned him a mammoth $29.5 million, 5-year deal. His annual salary now is expected to be around $4.5 million. Hence, he was termed a money hungry individual who sacrificed doing the greater good to fetch more cash.

However, Sanders has repeatedly clarified that he didn’t join Jackson state to earn money, and he didn’t leave the facility to get more. He stated during the same podcast that he felt his time at Jackson State was over, so he took the decision to move on and look for new opportunities.

While Coach Prime enjoyed insurmountable success at Jackson State, it would be interesting to see if he can guide the Colorado Buffaloes to a similar path.