Everywhere Deion Sanders goes, noise and clout follow. On Tuesday, that reach extended to ESPN’s airwaves. And a former employee of the worldwide leader wasn’t happy about it.
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On First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum discussed whether Sanders should be in consideration for the NCAA Coach of the Year 2024. The topic was broached a couple of weeks ago; back then, Finebaum dismissed Smith’s beliefs. However, this time, he sang a different tune and supported Smith’s claim. After Finebaum finished, Smith elaborated upon his perspective:
“[Sanders has] been absolutely spectacular… [Colorado] came into the season predicted to finish 11th in their conference. We were questioning whether or not they were going to win four games!… If Deion Sanders gets this team to eight or nine wins… ladies and gentleman, you’re looking at the national coach of the year.”
Jason Whitlock, once a colleague of Smith’s, was not surprised to learn about Smith’s thoughts on the matter. He did, however, admit on his Fearless show that he was shocked to see Finebaum abandon his stance on Coach Prime not being an ideal candidate for the award.
“I can’t believe Paul Finebaum is co-signing this. Remember last week, [he] stood toe-to-toe with Stephen A. Smith? Someone pulled him into an office off-air and said, ‘hey, cut that out… you bow and kiss his (Smith’s) b*tt like everybody else.’
Whitlock even proposed a different candidate for the award, stating:
“BYU is atop the Big-12 [conference]. Colorado was picked 11th preseason. BYU was picked 13th. BYU is undefeated… why wouldn’t BYU’s head coach have a better case for Coach of the Year?”
The Cougars’ head coach is Kalani Sitake. When he took the post in 2015, he became the first Tongan to hold a collegiate head coaching gig.
Who else is in contention for Coach of the Year?
Sitake has BYU ranked No. 11 in the country. If the Cougars continue winning, he will remain among the top candidates for the award. However, there are two others with impressive and comparable resumes. Whitlock praised one of them — No. 13 Indiana’s Curt Cignetti — after mentioning Sitake.
“You know who was picked 17th [in the Big-10] preseason? Indiana…. Indiana is undefeated. Undefeated!… Why couldn’t [Curt Cignetti] be Coach of the Year?”
Cignetti is in his first year with the Hoosiers. Prior to his arrival, Indiana had not started a season 6-0 since 1967. Last year, he led James Madison to an 11-2 record. His incredible work with the Hoosiers would be worthy of Coach of the Year honors.
Finally, there’s another coach whose 5-2 record is arguably more impressive than Sanders’ with the Buffaloes. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea has captained the Commodores — the SEC’s perennial bottom-dweller — to a 5-2 (2-1 SEC) mark. Vandy cracked the top-25 rankings for the first time since 2013 this week, beat No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 5, and is one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018.
Nobody can dispute Sanders has exceeded expectations in 2024. But Sitake, Cignetti, and Lea don’t have the star power he possesses in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, who own the sport’s top-two NIL valuations.
Could Sanders possibly be Coach of the Year? Of course. But labeling him the runaway winner, with half the season remaining, is disrespectful to every other coach. While some may let Sanders’ name and cache impact their opinions, Whitlock and others aren’t joining the fray. They’ll let things play out before officially declaring their choice.
