Deion Sanders probably isn’t going to coach in the NFL next season, but he will be at the center of plenty of NFL Draft discussions with his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, set to be one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith defended Coach Prime for the potential influence he could have in where the Colorado QB lands in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Coach Prime Could Be Involved With Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Future
ESPN’s Molly Qerim reported that Sanders met with the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants ahead of the East-West Shrine Bowl during the final week of January.
How those teams project the Colorado quarterback’s NFL future might not be the deciding factor in where he lands in the NFL Draft order. Qerim said some pundits have speculated that his father, a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and current Colorado Buffaloes head coach, will influence where he lands.
Not only does Smith not have an issue with the potential influence Coach Prime could have with his son’s future but Smith argues he should influence where Sanders lands.
“This is the greatest cornerback in the history of the NFL, who has now proven that he can coach,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Jan. 27. “Excuse me, he has every right to be involved with whatever is going to involve his son on a collegiate level and the pro level. He has every right to do it.”
Coach Prime made first-team All-Pro six times during his NFL career, which is tied for the most among all cornerbacks in history. He finished his career with 53 interceptions and returned nine of them for touchdowns — an NFL record.
Since 2020, he’s been a college football head coach and was his son’s head coach at Colorado for the past two years. After going 4-8 in 2023, the Buffaloes improved to 9-4 during Coach Prime’s second season.
Smith argued Coach Prime’s expertise in football makes him qualified to be an influential part of his son’s NFL Draft story.
Coach Prime’s Potential Influence Compared to Archie and Eli Manning
If the elder Sanders has a major say in where the Colorado QB lands in the draft, it wouldn’t be the first time a father supposedly meddled. “First Take” guest Shannon Sharpe compared Coach Prime’s potential influence to Archie Manning’s for his son Eli Manning in 2004.
“Eli was supposed to be in San Diego, but he ended up in New York,” Sharpe said. “I didn’t hear anybody say anything about that.”
The then-San Diego Chargers (now the Los Angeles Charges) did draft Manning at No. 1 overall in the 2004 NFL Draft. However, the Chargers shipped him to the New York Giants in exchange for the No. 4 pick, Philip Rivers.
Manning said in an interview with NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt in 2021 that it was his decision not to play for the Chargers. But implied that “the pull” from his father was how he was able to land where he wanted.
Sharpe wasn’t exactly correct to suggest no one criticized the Mannings for refusing to play for the Chargers. When analysts discuss the ex-Giants QB’s career today, his draft day experience is largely not mentioned, but at the time, several sports columnists criticized the Manning family.
However, it’s hard to argue it wasn’t the right decision. Manning went on to win a pair of Super Bowls with the Giants while Rivers never played in the Super Bowl.
As a father, Sanders would likely accept any media pushback he’ll receive for influencing his sons’ draft positioning if it meant putting them in a better situation to succeed.