Nick Saban and Deion Sanders are two very different college football coaches who have a lot of things in common. Although their approaches to the media and public persona don’t quite align, they share a lot of the same vision in terms of roster management, on-field Xs and Os, and how they mold men.
Saban has been coaching college ball since 1973 and got his first head coaching job at Michigan State in 1995. Sanders has been coaching college ball sine 2020 when he got his first head coaching job at Jackson State.
Needless to say, even though he is a Pro Football Hall of Famer and knows everything there is to know about football, the latter has a lot to learn from the former in regard to coaching. He’s new to that aspect of the sport.
Saban and Sanders not only serve in the same role at two different programs, they are coworkers. Aflac signed them on as a dynamic duo a few years back.
Deion Sanders is a sponge!
During a recent interview with Taylor Rooks, Coach Prime revealed that he has picked up a few pointers from Saban. They have a mutual respect for one another on both a professional and personal level.
He is the grand marshal. He is the magna cum laude to me. I respect him so darn much. I really do.
— Deion Sanders, via Taylor Rooks X
Saban oftentimes offers some of his wisdom to Sanders while filming together for Aflac.
Just little things that he may whisper in between takes when we’re shooting an Aflac commercial. They’re sacred to me because he is him, and I respect the heck out of him.
— Deion Sanders, via Taylor Rooks X
Coach Prime did not offer any specifics. He said that he couldn’t “recollect right now.”
However, Sanders did reveal some of the core things that he has learned from Saban throughout the years.
Identifying personnel. Coaching-wise, understanding the different, not leagues but the different conferences. Understanding all that language and how this stuff works and why this school is going to that conference or that school is going to that conference, and always being prepared for what’s next.
Because there’s no one who’s lost more coaches to the next level than he has, but it keeps on ticking. Why? Because he’s the engine. He is it.
— Deion Sanders, via Taylor Rooks X
The time on set has served Sanders well in more ways than one. First and foremost, he gets a nice paycheck. In addition, he gets to absorb everything that he can from the greatest college football coach of all-time.
The full interview can be found here: