Leave it to Deion Sanders to intercept the ball on one of the biggest college football days of the year.

Coach Prime is coming to the Pac-12, as Colorado announced on Saturday that they’d made the splashiest of splashes, reeling in arguably the biggest get on the coaching market.

This isn’t just a splash, this is Shamu coming back down after soaring into the clouds. This is the husky kid in camp pulling off the summer’s best cannonball.

Forget Boulder — this is the boldest Pac-12 coaching hire in nearly a dozen years, since Washington State went swashbuckling with Mike Leach.

Now there’s only one question.

Will it work?

A quick primer on Coach Prime:

  • Unquestionably one of the defining athletes of the 1990s, a two-sport star who shined for MLB’s Atlanta Falcons and several NFL teams
  • One of the best cornerbacks in the history of the game, an 8-time Pro Bowler and a 6-time first-team All-Pro
  • 2-time Suoer Bowl Champion and 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year
  • 2-time unanimous CFB All-American
  • 1988 Jim Thorpe Award winner

And those are just his playing accolades. His coaching accolades the last few years at Jackson State have been sterling as well.

  • 2-time SWAC champion
  • 2-time SWAC Coach of the Year
  • 2021 Eddie Robinson Award winner.

As resumes go, few are more impressive, particularly to impressionable, hungry 18-year old kids. Nearly 2 decades removed from his playing career, Sanders can still swag with the best of them. He has a ruthless sense of humor and a personality that resonates with everyone from players to parents to donors to locker room attendants.

And he proved the last two years that he is one heck of a coach.

At one of the legendary HBCUs, Sanders thrived, leading the Tigers to a 23-2 record the last 2 seasons, including a 12-0 mark this year. He has recruited high-level FBS talent to FCS Jackson State, including seven 4- and 5-star recruits. His son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who passed for 3,000 yards, 32 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions, now could head to Colorado with him, as well as defensive back Travis Hunter, the No. 1 recruit of the 2022 class, who shocked the college football world by decommitting from Florida State and picking the Tigers.

And now, Sanders has shocked the college football world once more.

“Deion Sanders’ stature transcends sports, and his hiring elevates not only the football program but the university as a whole,” said CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano.  “I’m thankful Deion has chosen to join our Buffalo family and I applaud Rick George for a truly inspired choice.  This is an exciting new chapter in the long, storied history of Colorado football and I look forward to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our students, supporters and fans to cheer on “Coach Prime” and our student-athletes next fall.”

Now that it’s official, Sanders can set to work, though he reportedly has not been shy in making it known he’d be headed to Boulder. He’s already started putting together a staffing wish list as well.

It makes sense for Neon Deion to break the speed of light on this gig, considering just how far he has to go.

Colorado finished 1-11 this season, tied for the worst record in all of FBS, as well as tied for the worst record among Power 5 schools, sharing that ignominious honor with Northwestern. CBS Sports ranked the Buffaloes 120th out of 131 teams in major college football, just one spot ahead of the Wildcats.

Colorado ranked worst in the Pac-12 in points scored (185, Arizona State second worst at 256) and points allowed (534, Arizona second worst at 438) and fourth worst in the country in total offense at 281.2 yards per game.

The Buffaloes have zero depth, little talent and few playmakers. Can Sanders turn that around in a hurry?

Colorado is banking on it.

“There were a number of highly qualified and impressive candidates interested in becoming the next head football coach at Colorado, but none of them had the pedigree, the knowledge and the ability to connect with student-athletes like Deion Sanders,” athletic director Rick George said.  “Not only will Coach Prime energize our fanbase, I’m confident that he will lead our program back to national prominence while leading a team of high quality and high character.”

For George and DiStefano, this hire was a no-brainer.

For Sanders, not so much. He reportedly — well, he reported himself — had several head coaching suitors in the Power 5. Colorado was the best he could do? There aren’t many programs nationally on shakier ground than the Buffaloes, even if they have a history of competing at the highest level.

He’s also leaving a place where he was becoming beloved, and all that talk about making an impact at an HBCU loses its weight in light of Sanders’ move.

But he’s never been shy about wanting to compete for greatness. And he’ll have his shot. Even if it takes a while.