Jackson State Football

Jackson State cornerback Travis Hunter signed a name, image and likeness deal with Michael Strahan, including the Hall of Famer's clothing and lifestyle line and new skincare and shaving brand, Michael Strahan Daily Defense.

Hunter, the consensus best player in the 2022 recruiting class and a trailblazer for HBCUs, is the first brand ambassador for the company.

Strahan, who attended Texas Southern University, said he wanted the brand to launch with a HBCU athlete as the face.

“As an HBCU alum, it’s important to me to continue to support the movement to raise awareness for these institutions and individuals that are often overlooked. As my lifestyle brand has continued to grow, I wanted to create the opportunity for an HBCU athlete to serve as our first brand ambassador,” Strahan said. “I am overjoyed to officially welcome a true game-changer, Travis Hunter, to my team to help us build our new skin and shave line while also expanding my clothing lines that are available at amazing partners like Men’s Wearhouse. I admire Travis’s confidence, poise and talent. I cannot wait to see what he accomplishes on and off the field.”

Hunter added that his admiration for Strahan only made him want to represent the brand more. The 5-star shutdown corner is by far the highest-profile player to sign with an HBCU, joining Deion Sanders' movement to create a powerhouse at Jackson State.

“I’m very good with the leadership/role model role,” Hunter told Michael LoRè of Forbes. “I like that role. I like to show people that I’m going to be on a straight line, I’m not going to mess up or do anything out of the ordinary to jeopardize anything.

“I’m happy to be the leader and to show people if I can do it, you can do it. It’s not that hard. You just have to work towards it. If you’re working towards something you really love, it’s not hard at all.”

The NIL deal will allow Hunter to earn an undisclosed salary for use of his likeness in advertising and other branding opportunities. After decades of pushing back on athletes earning any type of outside salary, the NCAA began allowing NIL deals last year.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders spoke out Friday about the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi.

Ahead of Jackson State's opening game of the 2022 season against Florida A&M on Sunday, Sanders said of the situation in Jackson: "We just hope we can afford to give the people an escape for the period of time ... so they can get their minds off the true issues at hand. It's a tremendous burden, but it's way bigger than football."

Per CNN's Nouran Salahieh, Jason Hanna and Amir Vera, the acute water issue in Jackson began Monday when flooding caused a water treatment plan to fail, causing little or no water to come out of faucets in the city.

In some cases, the water coming out of faucets has been brown and undrinkable, forcing businesses and schools to be shut down in Jackson, with public schools and Jackson State classes held virtually.

CNN noted that even before the damaged water treatment plant went into failure, a boil-water notice had been in place for a month in Jackson. Because of crumbling infrastructure, this is just the latest in a series of water issues residents have faced.

In addition to expressing his hope that Jackson State football can bring some joy to the residents of Jackson, Sanders praised the work of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba:

"Ain't nobody complaining. Ain't nobody trippin. They might be uneasy because they want information. The governor, our mayor are doing a phenomenal job—to me—in supporting that. But all [the people of Jackson] want is hope and desire.

"And guess what? The Jackson State University football team gave them that. And we plan on giving them that."

Sanders is widely regarded as one of the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history after enjoying a 14-year career in the league with the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens.

He recorded 53 interceptions during his career and was an eight-time Pro Bowler, six-time first-team All-Pro, two-time Super Bowl champion and one-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Sanders broke into coaching at the high school level in 2012 and became the head coach at Jackson State in 2020.

After leading Jackson State to a 4-3 record during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, he helped the Tigers improve to 11-2 last season, including a 9-0 mark in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The Orange Blossom Classic will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in Miami, and fans can watch Jackson State clash with Florida A&M on ESPN2.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Jackson State football head coach Deion Sanders provided lofty praise to Alabama head coach Nick Saban in the wake of him becoming the highest-paid college football coach in the country.

Sanders made the remarks on SportsCenter with host Sage Steele and Saban also part of the conversation (h/t 247Sports' Dean Straka).

"Coach Saban is our magna cum laude (of coaching). He is our guy. You would not have questioned Michael Jordan and you don't question LeBron (James) when they are given a contract of this status. We should never question him. I love what he is doing. I love the bar he has set. Every opportunity I get to sit with him on this wonderful Aflac set, I'm gleaning from him just some of the fruit and nuggets he's able to spit to me. I'm happy. Well deserved. No one, I wish I wouldn't catch anyone saying anything about the contract Saban has warranted. He is the GOAT."

Alabama's board of trustees has approved an eight-year, $93.6 million contract for Saban, per Aaron Suttles of The Athletic. His $11.7 million average annual salary is now the standard in college football.

Saban's college football resume stands alone in the sport's history. His teams have won seven national titles (six Alabama, one LSU) and 10 SEC crowns (eight Alabama, two LSU). Saban holds a 269-67-1 record over four stops at Toledo (1990), Michigan State (1995-1999), LSU (2000-2004) and Alabama (2007 to present date).

The 70-year-old nearly became the first college football coach to earn a nine-figure deal, but he's deserving of the most lucrative annual contract in the sport thanks to his tremendous track record. His Crimson Tide enter this year as the consensus No. 1 team and the championship favorites.

Sanders has done quite well for himself in just two years at Jackson State. The former star NFL defensive back led the Tigers to an 11-2 record and a SWAC title. He also earned the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the best coach at the Division I-FCS level.

The future looks bright for the HBCU football program as well: Of note, Sanders was able to recruit the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2022 in Travis Hunter, who was set to go to Florida State.

Saban's Crimson Tide ultimately stands as the gold standard, but Sanders is doing great work in his own right as Jackson State continues its college football ascension.

Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders has added former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to his coaching staff as an analyst, Zimmer told Thee Pregame Show.

Sanders had previously teased the hire after the coach spoke to his team Tuesday:

Sanders hired Zimmer's nephew Andrew Zimmer as an analyst in June.

"I’m grateful that Coach Prime was willing to bring me here to help this team win football games," Mike Zimmer said. "I’m excited to be around a winning team and see what a winning team looks like and help bring the program to another championship season."

Zimmer joined the Dallas Cowboys staff in 1994, becoming the defensive backs coach one year later. He coached Sanders for the entirety of Prime Time's five-year run with the team.

They have maintained a friendship since going their separate ways.

The Vikings fired Zimmer in January, bringing an end to his tenure as head coach after eight seasons. Minnesota went 72-56-1 and made three playoff appearances under the 66-year-old.

Jackson State football head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders said during SWAC Media Day (h/t Mike Rodak of al.com) that his team is not ready to play Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide, although he appears open to it down the road as his program develops.

"He's not gonna play us right now," Sanders said at SWAC media day in Birmingham. "We're not ready to that. We're not into sacrificing our kids to get a check. He got to give me another year."

The question to Sanders regarding Alabama was in response to Saban fielding a question at SEC media days regarding whether he'd be open to playing in-state HBCUs Alabama State and Alabama A&M, per Touchdown Alabama.

"I think I certainly can see," Saban said. "We've tried to be very supportive. Miss Terry is on the Board of Trustees at Stillman College. I've always been an advocate of playing in-state schools because I think it sort of helps them raise their level and their ability to compete, which obviously if you do that, you also contribute to how successful the players in those organizations can be, So I would be very much in favor of that."

Sanders' Jackson State Tigers were one of the best HBCU football teams in 2021. They went 11-2, won the SWAC and made the Celebration Bowl, where the Tigers fell to South Carolina State.

Sanders has done tremendous work at Jackson State in his two seasons there, but he noted that a size differential on the lines of scrimmage is preventing meetings with Power Five schools right now.

"I got to beef up in the front," he said, per Rodak. "The difference in Power 5s and HBCUs right now is those big guys in the middle. It's not the quarterbacks, it's not the receivers and DBs or the skill positions. It's those big dogs in the middle. We've got to beef up that to be able to compete with something like that."

Sanders has already made recruiting waves, notably adding 5-star athlete Travis Hunter to the mix. Saban claimed he read that Hunter signed a million-dollar NIL deal with Jackson State. Hunter denied that report, and Sanders made his own remarks.

Ultimately, Sanders has his team riding a massive wave of momentum, and it's conceivable to see them reach greater heights and compete well against Division I-FBS programs today. That day is not imminent, but it appears to be a possibility under Sanders' leadership.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said he's open to the program setting up a future game against FCS opponent Jackson State, which is coached by NFL legend Deion Sanders.

"It's been great to see Deion's success, Coach Sanders' success and how well he's doing," Kiffin told reporters Monday at SEC media days. "I don't know future plans on that, but that would be exciting."

Sanders took over the Jackson State program in 2020, and he's helped the squad turn a corner. The Tigers have compiled a 15-5 record across his first two seasons, highlighted by winning the SWAC Championship Game last season.

While that success combined with Sanders' high-profile status makes Jackson State an intriguing schedule option for Power Five teams—the matchup would create far more interest than a usual buy game—the former cornerback isn't always a fan.

In September, Sanders told Andscape's Jean-Jacques Taylor that "all money ain't good money."

"Normally you just get paid to get beat. Your program makes a little more money than they normally would and you go get your butt kicked," he said. "I don't believe in that. I don't know how that helps anybody."

Jackson State athletic director Ashley Robinson agreed with Sanders, saying the program would turn down most Power Five offers in favor of games against FBS opponents where the Tigers could be more competitive.

Robinson confirmed the exception would be in-state opponents like Ole Miss or Southern Miss.

"Those games would be historic," Robinson told Taylor. "Those are the only Power Five games we'll be looking at."

So a showdown between Kiffin's Rebels and Sanders' Tigers could be possible in the coming years. A season-opening matchup would be particularly attractive if the sides eventually come to terms.

For now, the focus is the upcoming campaign. Ole Miss opens the 2022 season Sept. 3 when it hosts Troy at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, while Jackson State will play Florida A&M at Hard Rock Stadium for its opener Sept. 4.

Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders announced Monday in a video that he would donate half his salary to help finish the school's football operations facility.

After initially discussing donating a quarter of his salary with business manager Constance Schwartz-Morini, Sanders said he would raise the input.

"I'll put half on it to get this done," Sanders said. "If you don't believe me, check me. I will send you the receipts."

The coach has a $300,000 annual salary after signing a four-year deal in 2020, per ESPN.

According to Khari Thompson of the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, the school hopes to open the facility Aug. 4, exactly one month before the start of the 2022 regular season.

Sanders is heading into his third season as the coach of Jackson State after leading the team to an 11-2 record in 2021. The program continues to build momentum, signing the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 class, Travis Hunter.

Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders offered a frank assessment of the ongoing realignment taking place throughout college football.

Appearing on SportsCenter (starts at 2:00 mark) on Saturday, Sanders noted that realignment is just a way of "chasing the bag" with programs across the country trying to make the most money possible.

College football has been in chaos in recent years with several teams across the country switching conferences.

The most significant change came in July 2021 when Oklahoma and Texas unanimously voted to accept invitations from the SEC and leave the Big 12.

Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman reported last month that 2024 was a realistic target date for the schools to join the SEC.

Per CNBC's Jabari Young, Texas and Oklahoma could earn more than $60 million annually in the SEC. They earned $34.5 million from the Big 12 in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

In the wake of the move, the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 announced an alliance to bring the schools in those conferences together "on a collaborative approach surrounding the future evolution of college athletics and scheduling."

That didn't last long, as the Big Ten announced June 30 that UCLA and USC accepted invitations to join the conference for the 2024-25 academic year.

Per Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post, UCLA and USC are likely to earn in the neighborhood of $80 million per season in the Big Ten.

New Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told reporters this week that the conference was "open for business" as it looks to attract new schools with the looming departures by Oklahoma and Texas.

The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach noted there has been speculation that all this movement will lead to two megaconferences, with the Big Ten and SEC fielding "20 or more members apiece."

Realignment has been going on for years prior to these recent seismic shifts. Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Louisville joined the ACC within the past 10 years, and Notre Dame also joined the conference in 2013 in all sports except football.

BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston are set to join the Big 12 in 2023.

There will almost certainly be something lost in college football with realignment taking away traditional rivalries that have helped endear the sport to fans across the country. But with so much money on the table, it's no surprise schools are maximizing their earning potential.

Rapper Ja Rule announced Friday on Instagram that he will be donating money to the Jackson State football program, and head coach Deion Sanders was quick to thank him for the gesture.

"I wanna thank my brother Ja Rule for hitting me up and including our program in his heart along with several other HBCUs," Sanders said, per TMZ Sports. "My brother I've always admired and applauded you from afar but this is a true blessing for our team.

"God bless u my brother!"

Ja Rule is using some of the proceeds from the sales of 1,000 one-of-one NFTs to donate to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Jackson State. Hampton, Morgan, Spelman and Moorehouse will also be receiving donations.

This marks the second large donation to Jackson State this week. Rapper Diddy pledged $1 million each to Jackson State and Howard University during the BET Awards on Sunday, per TMZ Sports.

Sanders became head coach of the Tigers in 2020. After going 4-3 in his first season, Jackson State went an impressive 11-2 in 2021 and also 247Sports' top-ranked recruit in Travis Hunter.

The Tigers should be one of the more interesting teams to watch in college football during the 2022 campaign.

Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders reacted to the latest Sports Illustrated cover that featured his program by saying "so clean, we're dirty."

Sanders is joined by his son and quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, as well as defensive back Travis Hunter on the cover. The head coach called it a "monumental moment" for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Sanders and Hunter are the first HBCU players on the cover of the magazine since Steve McNair in 1994.

Hunter was the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2022, per 247Sports' composite rankings and was recently in the headlines after Alabama head coach Nick Saban told reporters, "Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school. It was in the paper. They bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it."

While Saban didn't specifically mention Hunter, the defensive back pushed back on Twitter:

Saban has since apologized for singling out Jackson State and Texas A&M in his comments about college football in the name, image and likeness era.

As for Sanders, Jackson State hired him as its head coach in 2020.

The program went 11-2 last season and opens the 2022 campaign against Florida A&M on Sept. 4.